It’s not safe at all! If the Mexican Authorities are warning Americans NOT to come to Mexico for Spring Break due to their very high crime rate in murder…then what do you think? I wouldn’t go period!

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My wife and recently changed our plans to celebrate our 5 year anniversary in Cancun due to the violence in Mexico. We even had a free place to stay at a very nice condo. We are instead booking a cruise to the Caribbean. Safety is my biggest concern.

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I am probably one of many that has booked a vacation in Mexico and can not get out of the reservation due to costly cancelation fees. I am going to try and keep my activities with groups and tour guides as aposed to freely traveling the area I will visit this month.

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No worries here…just use a little common sense. Been three years in a row to Mexico on spring break with the family with no problems or concerns. I have also been on personal business in areas of Mexico where no gringos are probably within a hundred miles, often seeing armed military checkpoints along the way. Never felt truly unsafe, even though I was aware of some kidnappings. To insure your safety it’s simple… don’t wander around late at night in unfamiliar areas, don’t wear a lot of jewelry or flash a lot of cash and always be aware of your surroundings. Not much different than here in Atlanta. The Mexican people are by and large very friendly and gracious to tourists. Much more so in my opinion than some of the Carribean destinations I’ve been to before. Also, hard to believe but right now it is cheaper for us to go there than Florida… and guaranteed warm temperatures!

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People should not be scared to go to Mexico for vacation or spring break if they travel to safer places, other than Ciudad Juarez or Tijuana for example, where drug cartel problems exist. Other areas of Mexico are not experiencing these problems and just because an advisory is put out for certain areas doesn’t mean you should avoid all of Mexico. I have lived north of Puerto Vallarta for 3 years and people are vacationing here and in Puerto Vallarta and enjoying Mexico. Mexico depends on tourism for its economy and the Mexican people and businesses who depend on tourists for their living will suffer when the the media puts out blanket statements about avoiding
Mexico.

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The sad part is that the most recent problems in Mexico are a DIRECT result of the US government’s failed War On Drugs. No, Mexico is a country rife with corruption, violent police, and financial and social problems caused by government monetary policy and a complete disrespect for property rights. That being said, if drugs were relegalized in this country (as they were before 1915), the drug crime problem in Mexico and the United States would disappear virtually overnight.

Don’t believe me? Just look at crime statistics during and after the end of alcohol Prohibition. The same organized crime activities of drive by shootings, killings over territory, police corruption, etc. were rampant and a direct result of the illegality of alcohol. Those same problems are present now because of the illegality of drugs. Millions in this country routinely use frugs without harming anyone but themselves (and even personal harm could be debated). It is the dealers and distributors that are involved in most of the violent crime, as well as users stealing to afford the black market inflated prices that would surely drop to affordable levels were they legal.

You don’t ever worry about a Budweiser and a Miller beer truck driver shooting it out on the street over territory. That competition is handled by salesmen in a non-violent manner. Likewise, CVS and Rite-Aid pharmacists would not be killing people in the street were they allowed to peacefully sell a defined, well-labelled, regulated substance that many peacefully wish to use. More violent crime is associated with people under the influence of alcohol than drugs, yet with one we learned our lesson of failure and the other, the failure continues.

Utopia, no. Still a medical problem? Yes. But considering the billions spent every year just on the judicial system costs let alone the other societal costs of the violence and the destroyed families, legalization is clearly the only workable, constitutional, and wise solution to the drug problem the government should be considering.

For the unfortunate victims in Mexico and our inner cities, it would certainly be a welcome blessing for their situations. Spring break would be just the beginning of safer times in Mexico and the US.

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Im going to cancun mexico in about 2 weeks. my parents are going with me and my friends. But they are freakin out about all the drug cartel stuff.. is it safe to go? or should we try to relocate. I do not want to be some where that is very unsafe. go or not??

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Notice that the alcohol supporters recognize the economic value of freedom too. States like Arizona and Wyoming and others used to also see positive economic benefit from the lower drinking age when other states around them were at 21. Restrictive Blue Laws and high taxation continue to benefit adjoining freedom loving states still. Big surprise. Personal responsibility is imperative, but freedom does work. Just look at the tourism business in Holland and more specifically Amsterdam. A wonderful city where both marijuana and prostitution coexist with everyone in charming neighborhoods filled with families, children and the elderly. No big deal.

Personally I never felt safe at all in Mexico as far back as the early 80’s. Shakedowns by corrupt police, unhealty water, abject poverty, poor roads. Maybe at some of the big tourist resorts like Cancun, Cabo San Lucas and other places on the Mexican Riviera, but any of the smaller border towns like Juarez, Tiajuana, or even more south like Ensenada are just powder kegs waiting to explode. The Drug War will be just one of the many sparks that lights the fuse.

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MarShele…PV is very safe. I’ve been there the last two years for spring break and had no issues and I’ve seen about all there is to see there. Read my post above about using common sense. Although I went with my family and did not venture into the big off-resort drinking spots like Senior Frogs, PV has a good rep…more so than its neighbor to the south, Alcapulco. Cab drivers are a little crazy though.

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Me and my husband just returned from a resort in Cancun, Mexico on Feb 28th and we did not experience any problems. We stayed for 7 days, we walked to Downtown Cancun and took the bus to various locations. I am not sure what people are talking about when they are saying it is not safe.

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Well, there’s some pretty violent parts right here in America, and it doesn’t stop people from visiting.

I say don’t be scared, and live you life, and go where you want. But just pay attention to your surroundings. Common sense people.

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The BORDER towns are the problem, not the rest of the country. Do you know how big Mexico is??? This hysteria is getting out of control. I just got back from Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca (that’s in Mexico). I was there for a month. NO PROBLEMS. If people take simple precautions anywhere when they travel, they will not run into problems.

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Everyone here is extremely overreacting. Violence along the border of Mexico is bad, but places like Acapulco and Cancun are safe enough for drunken spring break debauchery. Think of it like this: If the bloods and the crips were having an all out war in Chicago, a blood might shoot a crip in Miami Beach, but that doesn’t mean that Miami isn’t safe. There may be isolated incidents in resort towns, just as there is isolated violence in all major U.S. Cities. Bottom line: the reosrts are 1,000 miles away from the violent border cities. They are packed with people. You are fine to go.

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I was in Cancun last weekend with a colleague and we had no problems, except for the return flight on Sunday being cancelled because of snow in Atlanta. The beach was beautiful and we did not feel unsafe at any time. Due to the downturn in the US economy, we saw more Canadians and wealthy Mexicans at our resort. Live your life and see the world for yourself! Do not give in to the fear mongering perpetuated by the American media.

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For the record, in 2007 there were 16,929 murders,90,427 forcible rapes, with 1,408,337 violent crimes. Where??? The United States of America. I think things should be kept in perspective.

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Thanks John T. That makes me feel a little better. He has reserved a shuttle ride from the airport to the resort so may not have to deal with cab, however, maybe the shuttle is the same situation! Thanks again.

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Mexico is not safe. The girls gone wild video crews will be there.

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Being a regular traveller to Mexico I can tell you as long as you stick to the main tourist spots you will be fine.We have travelled to area’s such as Puerto Vallarta and Cancun on some occasions multiple times in a year with no sense of trouble or none of the tension or ”corruption” people speak of.We have always had a really good time and continue to travel to the region.With that being said the border towns such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and other towns well known for the drug trade should be avoided at all costs particularly now with the drug cartels battling it out.We have never been and will never go to the border towns, just far to corrupt and with the U.S. being where the drugs are going (or trying to get), the border towns are where the trouble lurks…Use your common sense when travelling anywhere in the world.Mexico has it’s problems but then again so does Canada, and right in your own backyard.You wouldnt walk into a drug dealing neighborhood in the U.S so why would you do it anywhere else?

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worriedsick, the border towns are to be avoided at this time.As per warnings from the goverment.

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i was in tijuana mon and tues mar. 2 & 3 for a dentist appointment..i went with a friend and we stayed in a hotel there..lots of police on the street which made me feel very safe..we had no problems…as for acapulco, i was there three times last year and i am on my way back the week of march 16th…i was in cancun in jan. 09 and had a wonderful time..no problems..i drink alcohol with friends at the clubs but i do not get stupid drunk…do not use drugs so there are no problems… anywhere you go you can be a victim of crime. the only crime i saw was people trying to sell you junk on the beach..lol.enjoy your vacations in mexico…

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2008 saw more people killed in Mexico than were killed in either Iraq or Afghanistan…would you go do Spring Break in Iraq? Seriously, why risk losing your head traveling to Mexico…besides, KEEP AMERICAN DOLLARS IN AMERICA.

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i am going to Puerto Vallarta and i plan to get wasted 16 to 20 hours per day! dont buy drugs or wander around along if your a girl. (if you are a girl thinking of wandering around along look me up)

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fuk u mate sdait pats is the best u ass

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If you were not born in Ireland, your not Irish! Idiot

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What the hell is there to blog about? How about a topic on all the crime caused by the thugs in Atlanta?

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Alan, you’re ignorant. I think you need a vacation. Can you sing?

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Alan, this article deals with TRAVEL so it was placed in the TRAVEL section. If you want to talk CRIME then look in the Metro/ State section you dumba**.

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I think this’d be one of the greatest jobs ever! On Millennium (Celebrity), the domestic staff was elevated to ombudsman status; Caribbeans. But on the down side they can exact showcase talent. Any qualifier could likely find more durable entertaining work. RCCL count so heavily on the shows to carry the reputation.

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Dawn – if you don’t want to be around them, then go back to where you came from…under a rock.

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dang! and I thought it was bad as hell in Detroit!!!!

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Actually, it’s Sichuan Province, not Chengdu; Chengdu is the provincial capital.

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I’ve always spent a lot of time visiting with family and friends. I’m fortunate to have several weeks a year off work and I love to travel. My budget doesn’t allow for as much as I’d like. Staying with family and friends makes it possible. When I go to my little sister’s house I feel like I’m at a spa. I’m always treated like royalty. I’ve even visited with my best friend’s family and with my father’s Navy buddies. Being shown around by the locals makes it special. No tourist traps for me. I always try to make myself useful and not be a burden. It also helps to prepare a meal or two for my hosts or take them out.

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Were plannin a family vacation over the spring break next month, we’ll be staying in a cabin in Pigeon Forge TN. Along with our parents, there will be 7 siblings and our families for a total of ~23 people. 4 of the 7 siblings have been laid off, so the 3 working siblings will be picking up most of the cost. Fortunately, we all get along great, in-laws and all and we love getting the kids (ages 4-14) together. We’re all looking forward to it!

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I work with the Travel Channel online team and the Switzerland episode mentioned in the post is actually the upcoming episode on Monday March 23rd. In addition to snowboarding, he also competes in Schwingen (Swiss wrestling). There is a preview on his YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/dhanijones.

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I think it’s all about intent: What do you want to get out of this? If you just want to vent to make yourself feel superior, then it’s a waste of time. And it should be constructive feedback, not just whining. And I do feel people have become just plain rude and demanding. But yes, ultimately, they’re trying to get my money for their service, so it’s worth it to keep them accountable and hopefully make things better for the next person, and your visit.

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I frequently check Trip Advisor for hotel and activity ratings. I frequently post reviews but try not to be too negative. I generally have middle of the road expectations so I don’t get too diappointed unless its really bad… One such negative review related to a multi day hotel stay with NO hot water. Management kept saying it was going to be fixed. I unded up speaking with one of the repairmen on the day I was leaving and he said the part had just arrived and mgmt knew when to expect it.

when reading reviews, I generally toss out the most extreme on both the negative and positive ends of the spectrum.

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hi there if you are an actor or singer looking to create an online portfolio go to
http://www.owenmailer.com

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The chldren are your witnesses.

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It pains me to think about and relive my experience with clothing optional beaches. My experience in Cancun was quite alarming to say the least. Ironically, my particular resort was not clothing optional, however, the beach was not closed off. The nudies tended to wander down toward our end of the beach. Truly I believe that the body is a beautiful design, and when taken care of it is a pleasure to behold. Now back to reality. Ideal bodies are not always the case. But, to each his own. I just believe retirement communities and clothing optional beaches should not combine. At least that appeared to be the case. Or maybe they just offered discounts to seniors. (I know that not all seniors have given in to gravity, but largely it is the case!) I blame the magazines. Dammit Plaboy! You ruined it with your perfect bodies. Thanks a lot Hugh! (Smile)

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Nude people are rather a Ho Hum affair. Being nude with a large crowd is forgettable in about 20 minutes. We are increasingly getting over our Victorian prudishness and starting to get a grip on reality…this is good. Maybe the sin shouters will be over whelmed by large nude demonstrations and protests…this is VERY good. They control you through sex remember? Everybody does it, over and over so make it a sin…I am for reducing the clown quotient in America.

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Delores – NO we dont want to know

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Well Delores. I don’t know how you knew I would read this nudist article but you did. I guess that is what they mean by anticipating where the puck will go. Anyway, got your message and I will talk to the Delta website guys, all of my representatives and all of my customer service people and tell them to function properly. Sorry. Rich

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Nude is the way god made us. Could it be that our problems with nudity, etc. are the source of so many of our sexual, interpersonal, and body image problems? No, must be something else.

Funny how we claim to be the freeest nation on earth (so far off at this point that even the claim should bring a smirk to your face) yet what you don’t, what you put into your body, what you do with your body, etc. are the least free things in our society.

Besides, if you run accross a guy hiking nude in the cold Alps, how much will there be visible to offend your sensibilities anyway.

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I think the reason Delta is included is because the TSA is so paranoid and so ineffective, we will all likely be forced to fly naked soon just to make sure we aren’t smuggling anything like a toothpick that could be used to blow up a plane.

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I love doing the whirly bird naked.

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I have no problem with nudity at all. In fact, I’m frequently nude inside and outside my home. People should get over their insecurities and accept that everyone had a body.

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It’s the same old story — always, the ones that should cover up the most are the ones that think they’re the sexiest/most attractive. Jeff Foxworthy did a relevant routine about this subject. Most people aren’t that great-looking with their clothes ON; I sure don’t want to pay to see them jiggle and sag!

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Nude sexual deviants/perverts walking around flashing your children: this is why Handguns can never be outlawed.

I see this is another “I hate Christians” site…have fun, and enjoy your freedom exposing yourself…

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storm…I don’t walk around naked around any children, do you? I so, you need to be arrested

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Hikers on the Appalachian Trail have a week in the summer when they hike in the buff. I don’t remember which week, but my son hiked the Trail and honored the undress code along with most of the rest of them.

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A lot of noses, ears, toes and men’s units aren’t all that great to look at. At least one of those is pretty much hidden most of the time.

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I don’t take nude vacations, but one of the resorts I go to has a nude beach. It is completely separate from the clothing side as to not “offend” anyone and protects the nudies from gawkers. It is completely non-sexual and there is no swinging or swapping. It is relaxing to lay out in the sun and don’t have to worry about damp swimsuits, tan lines, etc. Everyone should try it at least once.

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My favorite battlefield in Ga. is Chicamauga. Its the only one where you can actually get a feel for the battle. The rest are really in bad shape. Its a travesty…

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Its NUDE, not LEWD ! Few people have perfect bodies. Thats what you will encounter at a nudist resort, any of the 3 or 4 in North Georgia. Nudity breaks down social barriers. You can’t tell a banker from a bus driver. You won’t find staring when everyone is nude! Nothing better than jumping in the pool or hot tub, and having the sun’s rays dry you off. Its the least sexually charged place you will experience.

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zedd,
yes, handguns to protect you from sexual deviants who get off on exposing themselves to your children.

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I always enjoy it when the slightest hint of criticism causes someone to accuse someone else of being a “Christian hater”, yet when some fundamentalist ultra-conservative type Christian stands up and demands that books they don’t like be removed from all libraries, they are just “defending their faith”.

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Americans are so Prudish!

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cj is an idiot . . .
.

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Going nude is wonderful. I do it at home and at nudist camps and beaches. The freedom is wonderful. And when you’re surrounded by others who are nude, you get that feeling that we truly are all the same. The class “barriers” are broken. Frankly, those who’ve never gone to nude beaches or camps should try it at least once before they criticize anyone. Sure there are jerks who will come to stare or do something stupid, but that’s when you alert management or police. Oh-many beaches have lifeguard/police patrols and camps and other resorts often have their own security. We do need to get over our negative attitudes about nudity.

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CJ, I am part owner of a small nudist property in central Florida, I am as conservative as most people you know.
The majority of members at my club are conservatives!
I have a family, and yes my children are nudists too, I go to church, I believe in GOD, I tithe, I pay my taxes and probably a large portion of yours… On my more liberal side, I believe abortions are bad, but I don’t think they should be outlawed, that is between a woman and her maker, I don’t care if a gay couple gets married or has a civil union, whatever you call it… and, I am a nudist!
There are no sex shows going on at a nudist resort, there are no public stripper poles, there are no lap dances, it is NOT about perversion, it is about freedom and enjoying yourself.
Loosen up.
Nudity by itself should not be offensive. However, overt sexual behavior in a public place is not a good idea!
It is also hard to understand the tone of the original article, the writer seems surprised that there are actually nudist resorts in GA “and some EVEN allow the entire family.”
Children who are raised to not be offended by the human body make great physicians and scientists, they have not been taught shame. Shame is not a productive trait, go back and watch “Oh God” with George Burns.
Nudist resorts and nudist activities are everywhere! Seek and you shall find one near you. If you run across naked hikers in the future, and it bothers you, look them in the eye, not below the belt, it may be your son or daughter!

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I’ve been a nudist and have been going to Paradise Valley (formally Hidden Valley)for 16 years. Anyone that hasn’t been there (or to any nudist resort) can’t possibly know enough to even make a comment. Before I went , I could count the close friendships I had on one hand. The close friendships I have now are more than I could have ever imagined. Visiting a nudist resort is nothing like a lot of the post here seem to think it is. It is definitely not about sex, it’s about freedom.You meet people as they really are without all of the preconcieved judgements clothing creates. When you are nude you don’t know if the person next to you is the CEO of a national company,a doctor (I’ve met several)a Lawyer (we do forgive them for that)a celebrity (yes met some too) or just an average person like myself.

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My husband and I are both members of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR), and we take at least one Nakation (nude vacation) per year. Our five children always go with us. All of the resorts we have visited have been family-friendly and wonderful. Before you knock the nudists, visit http://www.aanr.com and read more about it. You will wish you had become a nudist sooner.

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Being German and being familiar with the German lifestyle, I have no problems with nudity. For instance, in Germany whole families go to the bath houses where one would enjoy the bath right next to grandma and uncle and cousins and siblings. American people definitely would have a problem with that, but, as for not throwing the baby out with the bath water…. at least one can enjoy the accommodations available to them to be “in” with nature, among other like-minded adults, free of all societies stigmas. But it sure would be nice to not have these resorts overrun by a slew of people with naked body complex or to bring with them their puritan attitudes. Maybe all newbies should start out on the “beginner slope” !!

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I have done it many times and have enjoyed it thoroughly. Consider the phrase it is hard to be a snob when you are naked. You get to know people based on who they are not whether they are waiting the latest thing from Anne Kelin or Armani. Besides, after awhile, you don’t think about people are naked or not. It would be like going to a party where everybody is wearing red and you alone are wearing green. It also is about as comfortable as you can get. Just remember one thing-remember if you desire to be weird sexually nude places really are not where you want to be. People don’t put up with crap like that.

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Yes, I would love visit Cuab and I am thrilled that The Obama Administration is easing restrictions.

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Are you serious?!? Let’s just invite all of the communists and socialists to come into our country in take over … oh wait … we just did by electing Obama into office!

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Yes, my wife and I would love to go there. It’s probably one of the few places in the world that hasn’t been infected by McDonalds, Disney, and the other “garbage” that passes for American “culture”.

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great food, cigars, and rum.

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Would love to go. But, I am curious about a comparison in the article that says the city of Detroit has as many hotel rooms as the entire country of Cuba. I can’t believe it! You mean to tell me that people actually go to Detroit?

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Parents went to Cuba on their honeymoon in 1947. I have a lot fo souveneirs from their trip and would love to visit!
As for that jackass “Shannon”….who the heck is inviting anyone to take over our country? What a jerk!

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Kermit…. I bet you’re married to Shannon…What’s the Saying? Bird of a Feather….You finish the rest.

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Wanda, you say: “at lease (sic) in a socialist State you don’t have to pay for education and medical coverage.”

Are you kidding me? Do you think education and healthcare just fall out of the sky? Taxpayers pay for those services through significantly higher. It’s your kind of “government = no price” thinking that will bankrupt this country. Your ignorance is insulting.

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YES, I would love to visit Cuba. I understand they have excellent Doctors.

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Having lived and worked there (I am Canadian) I find the place endlessly interesting and not at all as the American press propagandises.
yes the economy is inefficent in many areas but for a Latin country pretty good.
And I hate to drag this up, but if one is poor and sick, best to be a Cuban than an American.
I learned many lessons there and on was to note that the American press can uniformly trash a country with out regard to the facts. And yes there are lots of Americans there defying there own Govts. wishes.

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I can’t wait to go. I’ve been wanting to visit for years. I hope that all restrictions are lifted. If we can visit and trade with the Soviet Union and China, why not Cuba? Oh, I forgot. Black people live in Cuba!

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We’ve been saving by staying in state for our vacations. Using sites like the ajc and exploregeorgia.org to find travel deals and look for those “undiscovered gems” that make for great weekend getaways.

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We are renting a condo at the beach but we are eating in instead of out while we are there. Also, we will not spend money on any shopping trips while we are there.

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Yes, it’s only fair. If an overweight passenger prevents the person in the adjacent seat from being able to comfortably use that seat, then the overweight person is taking away from what the other passenger paid for.

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YES charge the MORE.

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As it should be! I only hope Delta follows suit. As a frequent Delta flyer I have endured too many uncomforatable flights when the person sitting beside me spilled over in to my seat (sweat and all). If you require the space of two seats, you should pay for two seats.

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wannabe
It’s their and weighs.

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Yes – without a question. If you take up 2 seats, you pay for 2 seats.

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As a frequent flyer and a larger person I was on the side of I pay for my ticket and I fit in the seat so leave me alone. But, on a recent flight from LAX I had an empty seat next to me and hoped it remained so. But… I saw him coming down the aisle, the biggest man I have ever seen on a plane and I just knew he was coming to sit on/by me. I fit in my seat and I can fasten the seat belt but he couldn’t. He was by the window and took up his seat and half of mine. He had his own seat belt extender. the arm rest wouldn’t go down. He should have paid for 2 seats.

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We went to Disney and stayed at a Holiday Inn by Universal Studios, instead of one of the expensive Disney hotels in the parks.

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No, I am bored to death today. LOL!!!

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Absolutely–if you don’t fit in one seat, you should pay for two. That said, perhaps airlines should start installing a couple of seats that are a bit wider (maybe 1.5 times normal size). I’m not a very large person, but I flew internationally with my ex who’s 6′4″ and about 260. He fit in his seat just fine (though his poor legs were cramped). besides, if you really weigh *that* much, you’re sucking up more gas. Fair’s fair.

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Airlines are not buffets, but rather more akin to traditional restaurants where you pay for what you eat. You should absolutely pay for the space you occupy. Either pay for 2 seats or buy a 1st class ticket. It isn’t my responsibility to accommodate your irresponsibility at the dinner table by tolerating your amorphic, gelatinous rolls in my lap, on my leg, etc. Consider this: If we are neighbors, both paying rent or owning our homes, would you tolerate my piling up my belongings in your living room because I can’t fit them in my house?

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AIRLINES SHOULD REVERT TO THE WIDER SEATS OF THE ’50s AND STOP SCREWING THE FLYING PUBLIC. SQUEEZING PASSENGERS INTO SEATS ONLY LARGE ENOUGH FOR A 3 YEAR OLD TO SIT IN COMFORTABLY IS NOT ONLY CRUEL , IT’S DOWNRIGHT GREEDY.

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It’s really quite simple and elementary: the bigger the load the more you pay. Even the fatties ought to understand that.

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Quit flying!!!! Problem solved.

Man you people are some whiners!!!! Want some cheese with that whine???

It’s not fair…….I had to sit next to blah blah blah….

Should you charge fat people extra at a buffet? Should there be a scale at the door? If you weigh over 250, you pay twice as much. But if you weight under 250, you get regular pricing? I’m a light eater, but a friend of mine can eat two pizzas in one sitting, but he only weights 210, and is over 6 feet tall. Should he be charged more at the buffet cuz he eats more than I do?

When does it end? How do you make EVERYONE happy?????

Should grocery stores charge for fat people in the aisles that you can’t get around. They are occupying space……

Should playgrounds be made larger for fat kids? Wider slides?

Should auto makers charge more for a larger vehicle for fat people?

I mean come on? Can’t we all just get along?

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Just because you can’t push away from the buffet doesn’t mean you deserve to be accommodated!

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If airline seat designers can design First-Class seats that fold into complete beds, then they should be able to design a seat that could adjustably accommodate multiple sizes.

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Yes and No, Yes because it is uncomfortable for the person sitting next to them, and No because it is discrimination. Make planes with larger seats to accommodate overweight passengers. Should the movie theater charge an overweight person for two seats at the theater because the same thing happens there. Also if obesity is on the rise, then maybe these places should make changes to coincide with the rise in obesity.

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Wannabe you are right not all obesity is caused by disease or meds.

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It is certainly a problem with the overall amount of space given to begin with, I am a size XS to S with womanly hips and some airline seats are snug for me in the hip area. BUT, there is a BIG problem with obesity in this country and most of it is not a disease (although maybe psychological) so somethings need to be done. Paige and Darryl, I couldn’t agree more… on a flight there is NOTHING worse to me than screaming children which seems to happen on almost every single flight now and that is much more disruptive than a large person taking some of your space. Make parents pay extra whose kids disrupt the ENTIRE plane and not just the person sitting next to them!

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If there aren’t two adjacent seats available and the “large” person pays extra because they don’t fit in their seat, should the person in the seat where the “fat” hangs over be given compensation? Why do I pay full price when part of my seat is occuppied by a “wide body”? Yes, charge them more, but be fair to the person who is not given an option to give up part of their seat.

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Absolutely obese people should be charged for additional space. Airlines DO offer wider seats and that’s in FIRST CLASS!! If you don’t want to pay for the wider seat, then buy TWO in coach so that you don’t infringe upon other paying customers. I’ve actually had to remove someone from a flight because they took up two seats. And NO you don’t get compensation for being removed either because you KNOW you should have paid for two seats. Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas, etc… aren’t making the coach any wider. Just make your butt SMALLER!

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Furthermore, when I buy a ticket I am paying for my whole seat, not just 50% of it.

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Obese people should have to pay. Flying is a pain anyway, even when you aren’t sitting next to goliath. If I have to be inconvienced by a extra large person while flying, there is no reason they shouldn’t be inconvienced by paying more or upgrading to first class.

When the cost of being obese starts to burden the obese, they may start doing something about it. With our medicare, medicaid, and welfare; most obese people aren’t having to pay a thing in health coverage for being so fat. I think a “fat tax” on fatty’s on airplanes is a move in the right direction!

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If I have to pay for more than 50 lbs of luggage then they should be made to pay for more person. More weight means more fuel.

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“I might be fat, but you’re ugly…and I can always lose weight.” Feel free to subsitute “rude,” “conceited,” “self-centered,” etc. for the word “ugly.”

SayWhat…then do like the t shirt says, and lose weight! This isn’t an issue of respect and decency, its one of comfort and saftey!

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I say yes to larger passengers paying extra only if “FUNKY” passengers are not allowed on until they shower. I will take a fat arm in my space over holding my breath for four plus hours any day.

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Why dont the airlines put a few wider seats in the plane? Everyone deserves to fly and be treated the same. This discrimination bull is really getting on my last nerve. Black, white, mexican (legals that is) fat, skinny, young, old, babies, toddlers. Lighten up people. We all have feelings and we all all created equal. Just some of you think your better then others. By the way im white, 5′6″ and weight 135 so im not fat and sticking up for fat people. Im a christian sticking up for GODS people.

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I’m 6′7″, and am what the industry calls Large and Tall, not big and tall, as I was told by a very robust man in a big and tall store once. If I pay a little more can I have the seat in front of me moved a couple of inches forward? How about charging Mr Five Foot tall more for sitting in the emergency row, just because they like to stretch out more?

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Thank you Braves #1. I think people with screaming babies should have to pay extra. If they start charging over-weight people more, then I sense a lawsuit coming. That is just like making a black person or mexican or whatever color you are pay more because or their color. Are we really going to revert back to major disrespect and discrimination? I am 5′2 and 140 NOT overweight, but I have friends that are overweight and know how embarrasing it can be to not be able to buckle your seatbelt or ride rides at an amusement park. Overweight people don’t enjoy it….I say we extend the seatbelts to accomodate the overweight and when the obnoxiously skinny people go flying out the window Oh well they should have paid extra for a smaller seat belt to hold them in.

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Fatty fat fat fat fat

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Public transportation (which airlines are NOT) should not be forced to change to a new American “Physiology”, rather, the 60% of America that is fat or obese, should get back down to a normal, healthy weight. No thyroids, no emotional eating, no stress, no genes, no excuses. You’re born with blue eyes or red hair, not 80lbs overweight. This would have so many benefits! Reduced health care costs. Reduced energy consumption. Um, reduced food consumption leading to lower costs!

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It is bothersome to have your seat invaded on a plane by someone else but I think charging double is unfair and the airlines should make provisions for special passengers; accommodations for larger beings and mothers with babies. These seats could be placed throughout the aircraft. It’s the most respectable way to handle this issue.

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If you have ever tried to fly with the overlapping folds of a weight-impaired passenger overlapping onto the arm rest, your leg, your arm, shoulder, torso, you would not have to ask. I pay to use my entire seat space – from floor to overhead. If a passenger cannot fit in a coach seat, require them to pay for a seat they CAN fit into. The last time I was squished between an enormous passenger and the side of the plane, I made up my mind to always reserve an aisle seat when booking my flight.

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People of the world are so mean . . . some of your comments are horrific and uncalled for –you can express yourselves just as well without out being so obnoxious. Let’s face it, most plane flights are usually a big hassle, unless you fly on a private vessel but to constantly put down larger people as I’ve seen done on this blog is just mean. I bet many of you have children that are bullies.

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First, add to the base price of a ticket the combined weight of pax and luggage, and that is a collectible surcharge at boarding, billed automatically to the method of payment for the original ticket.
Second, if the collectible surcharge is over a certain amount, the pax is assessed and given 2 seats if it is not the luggage that passed the threshold, with no additional payment other than the surcharge that everyone of us would pay.
However, don’t hold your breath waiting for the airlines to do anything until forced by congress. They don’t think like that.

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Americans are just fat. So American airlines should have bigger seats. Or fly 747s everywhere!

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*** Prejudice against overweight people is the only bigotry that remains acceptable in our society. ***

This is not about prejudice, it is actually about equality … everyone pays the same for the amout of area that they use. If a fat person uses an extra seat for free when available, it is everyone one else subsidizing that second seat.

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I travel frequently, and just recently I have had 2 situations that almost caused me to ask for a refund. There are various reasons to have a less than enjoyable flight. I am overweight myself, but fit in the seat and use the regular seatbelt. The lady next to me on a 3.5 hour flight probably weighed less than me, but was shorter and had very wide hips. Part of her left thigh infringed on me and I had to lean to the left the entire flight. Then last week I had a lady next to me who was carrying her 14 mo. old little girl. She really was well-behaved for the 4.5 hour flight, but she kept flinging her little arms so that they hit me on the arm or in the stomach. Her mom was very apologetic. There was not a seat to spare on the plane, so that was not an option. Personally, I think the best and least expensive rule for everyone is partial or full reimbursement for a flight if your neighbor makes your flight unbearable.

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Kid-free airlines? Sign me up! I think the some of the screaming kids are just as tortured as the other passengers. On the other hand, ear plugs do wonderful things to mitigate the screaming kids AND help if you have ear problems like I do.

As a frequent traveler who is neither small nor obese, I have to say that there should be a surcharge. I try very hard to respectful to everyone I fly with, but I can’t stand to be elbowed in the breast or turn myself into a pretzel just to avoid having some stranger lean up against me. Lemme tell ya, in the summer, this really sucks big time!

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Airlines have become so greedy, and money hungry! They cram too many seats on plane and make them small to boot! They should give people more leg room and make seats a bit wider, comfortable, and not discriminate. Should you have to pay more because you were born ugly?

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People who are large enough to take up more than their seat should pay extra. I have friends who buy 3 tickets (they are a couple) when they have a long flight. I also find the screaming children and those allowed to do as they please very offensive.

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60% of the US is overweight. Remember that counts people who are 1 pound or 500 pounds over the ideal. More importantly I don’t care how fat you are. If you are using more that your seat…pay. If you are embarassed by your weight, DIET! Don’t give me that I have a Thyroid problem. The vast majority of the grossly overweight (more than 50 pounds over) in this country have a fast food, donut, and lack of exercise problem. Embarass you? Good I hope it does to the point of causing you to get off your butt. The airline is a private company and doesn’t need to change it’s airplane, or it’s policy to fit you. You need to pay the required fee’s or find another mode of transport.

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Now there’s an idea Hayley!

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I can’t believe there is any controversy over this. Has our culture really descended so far that Political Correctness allows fat people to think they are somehow entitled for a free seat or to encroach on the seat of the people next to them? It’s time we stood up to this nonsense.

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I don’t think that paying a extra fee is right. I agree with Big Juicy. I am a formal football player and I am big, I am 6′4 and 285 pounds and it is all muscles, and I don’t always fit so i have to buy two seats come on give me a break. The airlines need to make bigger seats and people need to stop crying and suck it up or drive your own damn car. With everything going on in the world right now and people are crying about plane seats, what about the people that have lost their homes and jobs and other things, that is something to cry about!!!!!!!!!

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Fat people should pay more. Its not fair for them to squeeze regular folks out of their seats.

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Have you ever seen a truck on the road with a “wide load” banner. That wide load permit cost extra, just like a wide load airline passenger should pay.

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Absolutely

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What if its a taller person? i’m 7 feet and I weigh near 300 lbs. Should I be charged more?

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Great comment Big Juicy (crazy mental image) LOL and Zeus also… One question to the posters… The airline will get more money from raising the price, but what will you get? People are complaining and I can relate, but it’s not like the fare heist (I meant hike) is going to change your situation. By the way, I’m sure everyone commenting on this blog was an uncontrollable crying baby at some point who couldn’t be stopped. Ask your parent if they ever wanted you to shut up.

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It’s a safety issue as well. If that fat person wedged in their seat next to you or nearby is between you & the emergency exits, you’re at increased risk in the event an evacuation is required. Personally, I’d demand a seat swap, another flight or reimbursement.

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Yes they should. And all flights should have 5 to 10 seats that accomodate tall people (those over 6′4″). Why can’t tall people be comfortable?

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Airlines should stop cramming people into coach seats. Surely it cannot be as safe as having a 1/3 or more less people in such a confined space.

I am 6′2 and 175 (not fat), and I am very uncomfortable in coach due to a lack of leg room that cannot be resolved by purchasing an adjacent seat. It’s especially bad when the person in front reclines their chair.

I empathize with the fat people.

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Shame Shame on all of you . I know you all hate me because we are overweight but where is your humanity. I’m big but its your fault, all of you. Even when I purchase a a first class seat those are uncomforatble as well but I only do that because of those dirty looks from people in coach even before I’m seated. I’m always early for a flight so that I’m out of the way of the slim people but I still see the stares, it’s just so cruel. You all should just try to understand it from my view and you will see how I am a victim of a society that discriminates agianst those who have a weight problem….shame on all of you for not having any human compasion and sympathy.

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YES!!! Why should I be uncomfortable,because someone doesn’t know how to control their eating habits. It happens to me all the time and I demand that I get another seat. Lose weight or buy two seats! Plain and simple.

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They should weigh each person and luggage then you pay a per pound price to travel. LOL

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Yes. But I also agree with the comment about screaming, ill-behaved children. They are much more disruptive and nerve-jangling than obese passengers.

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I am tearing up after reading some of the rude comments posted here. As an overweight person, It is embarrassing enough to ask for a belt extension and yes, I use it and stay in my own seat and try not to infringe on the passenger sitting next to me but to think that another passenger thinks I am less than human really hurts. I have sat next to people with the worst body odor ever, the baby who kept crying and the child behind me kicking my seat and you know what I realized I am going to be on the flight for a couple of hours and I can deal with it. Why don’t the airlines make the seat bigger? This is just one more embarrassement for those of us who are larger. We might as well be lined up against the wall so everyone can point and stare before we get on the flight, that way everyone get to take their pot shot at us before the plane takes off.

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IF I PAY FOR 2 SEATS CAN I HAVE 2 DRINKS AND BAGS OF PEANUTS

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Yes. I think the industry should adopt standards like they do for luggage. Charge by weight. Create a base fare and then add on the weight charge. Kids and tiny adults (who weigh less and therefore will require less fuel for transportation as well as space) would be charged less than a heavy set adult. It would also motivate our obese society and is probably the fairest solution. And if you’re embarrassed about your weight, do something about it.

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America is Obese… I went to my High school reunion and could not really identify everyone because we had all gotten so BIG…..but I think that with a little respect and wisdom a standard should be set for the airline industry so that those that are a little more frumpy can pay the price while they work on dropping those extra pounds by any means necessary….we big-Uns pay more for clothes (not 2x as much) and thats just all part of the price that you pay when you dont take authority over your health…but at the same time if someone takes up two seats then yes charge them for 2 seats but if its just a little bit more of a seat then add a surcharge on to cover …but prescreen us for our weight so that the special accomodations can be made beforehand w/out causing so much embarassment on the plane….there is a way to work it out

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Just a quick medical update for all you lay persons … there are almost no medical conditions which “cause” you to be overweight. Drugs, genes and diseases can make it easy to gain weight BUT if you don’t put the calories in your mouth you won’t gain or keep weight on … it is strictly a voluntary condition. Just like smoking it is hard to give up but completely up to the individual. An obese, and therefore sweaty, person encroaching on your space certainly should not be tolerated when the answer is so easy … buy another seat! The airlines just need to figure out a way to enforce this BEFORE boarding the plane!!

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Sorry rlm hope we never have the same flight and have to sit by each other, my 6′4 frame might be to much for your 5′2 frame lol…..

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ONLY if they charge more for children who are FAR FAR FAR more annoying with their screaming and crying that is an overweight person taking more than one seat.

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Discrimination? Bwahahahahahahaha…Thanks for the laugh. Nobody can change their race, sex, or national origin, but fatties can lose weight if they really wanted to. That’s what’s wrong with most fat people. They don’t want to take responsibility for their situation. They are victims. “Wawawawawawawawa…why am I so fat? Oh, and pass the cheese dip.” Absolutely laughable.

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This is difficult, because as bad as I feel for those who are overweight, I also don’t enjoy having someone take up half of my seat. I feel for those who have medical issues and are obese because of them. If the airlines charged extra for every person who is obese, I would find it troubling because there are those who cannot help it. Unfortunately those of us who aren’t obese pay the price if someone spills not only into our seats but also onto us because it’s gross. Maybe they could be denied the fingernail-sized pretzels the airlines now hand out. Seriously, though. If folks are that embarrassed about their weight and they do not have a thyroid issue or another issue that has caused them to gain weight, maybe it would be a good idea to charge extra for the seats and maybe they would decide to lose weight either out of embarrassment or because they don’t want to pay the extra money. I know it sounds cruel and I have no idea how you could separate those who have medical issues and those who are just fat. This is just my opinion.

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Yes!

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if it cost more to ship a heavy package then you should pay more the ship you fat arse…

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To be totally fair, the airlines should charge passengers by weight like they do luggage, the smaller you are, the less you pay, so the screaming horrific brat that lay in the aisle kicking and yelling at the top of her lungs while being held down by her mother for 3 hours on the last flight I was on would be practically free. Oh Joy! 20 bucks a pound for every one, that would be fair. So if you’re anoxeric, you get a deal and since you only eat every Tuesday, you won’t even have to worry about the lack of any food on the flight. The fat guy can sit next to you. If he gets hungry, maybe he’ll eat you.

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I rather have a fat person next to me than the kids like the whiny, bratty, obnoxious brat hell children that sat next to me for the long ass flight to Hawaii.

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the airlines is like all big companies thier GREDDY why dont they just make the seats bigger instead of making the seats so small.the seats are bigger in 1st class 1st class can still be 1st class cause they still have the best of everything else.

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Fat people choose to eat!!!!!!!!!!!!! How many people do you see in Africa? NONE! Fat people get off the couch….stop feeding your face. By allmeans call me if you want to loose weight….but it aint going to be pretty…..you have to looooooose the fork

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Maybe if we didn’t have a culture that makes excuses for people to be overweight (actually encourages them to be so for profit), 60% of us wouldn’t BE fat. Fat people, you do NOT have my permission to overeat and simply say you “have a problem”. How is that behaviour different from me saying I “have a problem” working for a living so everyone else should please pay all my expenses. Take responsibility for yourself, choose not to be fat – DO THE WORK!

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Okay so all of you people with problems with FAT people who gets to define what FAT is? Is it 160 pounds (that’s what the airline seat capacity is designed for)? How will it be enforced? If the airlines enforce it like they do carryon luggage then good luck! What are you going to do when the maintenance guy fixes a seat belt by shorting it 5 or 6 inches? Believe it or not that happens all the time. How is this not discrimination! Obesity is classified as a disease so how is this any different than bringing in a person in a wheel chair. Do they have to pay extra? How about tall people who, because of the long legs, prohibit the passenger in front of them from reclining in their seat. Are they going to charge extra for Black people or Asians? This is a load of crap. For the record I am a FAT white guy but I can fit into a seat without an extension and I am 5 feet 8 inches tall and weigh 260 pounds. I travel 40 weeks a year for business. With all that I’ve seen on planes this is just BS!

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I can take it a step further. I am a petite young fellow, at 150lbs. What boggles me is that I am forced to pay extra fares for bringing a bag along with me. However, me and my one bag together probably weigh roughly 175 lbs total. However, there will be someone checking in for my flight, who weighs 250lbs and their bag weighs just under the 50. So effectively 300lbs of weight compared to my 175lbs. Why do we pay the same price? It makes absolutely no sense if the airlines argument is always weight related. I suggest charging per pound to fly. Makes it easier and more fair for everyone.

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If fat people are charged more, then I should be charged less. I am 6′ and 155, I don’t workout and eat whatever I want.

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Yes.!! Maybe it will be an incentive for them to make efforts to lose some weight. If a person physically requires 2 seats to sit on an airplane, then they should pay for 2 seats. What is the alternative? Redesign airplane seats to have a special obese section and charge everybody more for that crap? I don’t think so. Then people would be protesting the airlines. You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

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Simple solution. Learn to fly, get your own airplane, have your own seat with all the comfort you want.

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If you want to have a comfortable flight pay for first class or business class seats!

It is not fair that the average weight of Americans is increasing, but the airlines are making the seats and leg room smaller.

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I would be happy to be charged a net price based on weight as would most Delta PM’s even though I am taller and bigger than most people… I travel every week and have one carry on that fits nicely in the overhead and my breif case. I also always put my breifcase under my seat unless I am in the bulkhead, so I do not take up overhead room… that is because I am considerate of others… I tolerate children and always try to help the parents when I can… still, how can a fat blobby person who flobbles and pours into my seat forcing me to touch them the entire flight be fair to me?

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How many fat doctors do you know? not many, as they know piling food into your gullet is bad for you…

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All you fat people darn sure dont mind paying extra for your “super size at the drive through” so you dang sure shouldn’t mind paying extra for all the space you consume on an airplane!

Get the fork out of your fat mouth or just don’t fly. Leave the flying to all us pretty people without kids!

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Nick, I wish I had a cave, I understand some are rather nice.
1) We are not talking about overweight here…we are talking about giant fat people who pour into your seat because they can not fit in their own. Sorry you can not understand the difference. My wife is a Doctor, and I have yet to meet a Doctor at her hospital, practice, med school, or CE events that would not fit in a seat on an airplane. Some may be considered overwight, but not giant blobs of people who can not fit in a seat on a plane. Can you understand this? I know I am just a simple caveman confused by your modern ways…I hope I am clear on this with my simple mind, however…

2)Now, let’s discuss your use of the word prejudice. You clearly do not understand the active definition of prejudice. We all have prejudice. You are prejudice as you think my IQ is below your 90 IQ because I think fatty fat fatties should pay more for flying because i do not like it when they pour into my seat. I am certanly prejudice. When I see a great big giant fat person, I pre judge them. I fully think that they stuff their gullets full of food and do not exercise. I validate this prejudice by knowing that everyone I know who eats right and exercises is not a giant tubby flabby flabonist… I certainly do not know the relevant facts as to how the people got so giantly fat, so I rely on prejudice. I am not mean to people who are giantly fat. In fact, I try to be polite. I help them put their bags in the overhead becuase they usually can not reach them. I also help them put their bags under the seat and help them get their bags back out as they physically can not do this becuase they have giant midsections and limited mobility due to being grossly out of shape.

So, I guess we are both prejudice. However, I do not wet the bed and I am smarter than you. Sorry if that stings….

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“Cracker”….lol……. I must say….you are a big joke. I won’t belittle myself by going back and forth with you in this forum. I must say it was kind of your wife…being a mental therapist, to marry one of her patients. I simply want all of you to stop to think about the fact that some people are situationaly overweight. “Cracker”, I do understand that you were once an athlete. Think of the consequences if you were to become disabled or were to have limited use of your total physical being. At that point exercise would become difficult. People we are in the 21st century. As opposed to persecuting thoses that are different from us, or outcasting those that don’t fit into what we deem to be the “norm”….lets reach out in concern and try to help. Not by degrading a person, but by embracing them as a fellow human being.

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Now you are prejudice against the mentally ill… but wait, since you wet the bed and do not use logic, it is OK for you to say it…

I am disabled. I have had many, many, many surgeries on my knees, back and shoulders. I walk with a limp and it is very, very painful for me to exercise. I could easily be a flob of blobbyness right now if I did not have discipline and pride in myself. I could have a handicap sticker for my car and have someone tote me through the airport on a wheelchair as well. I choose to not. I understand that there are exceptions. I also understand that there are also many who choose to stuff their gullets with food and take no responsibility for their actions and are empowered by people like you to continue.

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Wow, some of you really are cruel…Cracker & J….this is a question about fairness not insult hour at the improv theatre. As mentioned by many, there are bigger inconveniences on planes than someone is large taking up some of your space. So, do we charge more for all of that (stinky people, loud children, long legs poking)? None of it is pleasant but it is unfortunately part of air travel now.

I have been big in my past and am now in shape due to personal choice…which weight loss is for most people. It took embarrassing moments and insults for me to do something about it and I am glad I did. However, what gives you rude people the right in blatantly insult people because they are different than you? No one is perfect and people who insult others are usually the ones who truly have problems with themselves and make fun of others to feel better about themselves.

Debate like an educated individual but do not insult others for your own sick amusement….

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amen “LA”………I 2nd that emotion!!!!!!!!

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why is this becoming an argument over fat people versus skinny people? Just charge by weight!!! Simple. If you are fat and happy, pay more. If you are skinny and happy, pay less. It takes less fuel to get my 150lb body 1500 miles than it does to take your 300lb body the same distance. It doesn’t matter at all if you want to be fat, or skinny, are happy with it, or not. You are who you are. So cough up the dough for your portion of the gas money and stop making me cough it up for you.

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yes this does display “ad hominem”, but those of us that truly know just a little bit also know that ad hominem is primarily used to skirt the actual issue in order to be rude or insulting. Which you have more than done. By the way, I have said nothing insulting against the mentally disabled or challenged. You see being mentaly ill and mentally disabled is two totally seperate entities. To be ill is to be sick….and you my friend……are a real “sicko”. ie: dahmer, gacy, manson, bundy, etc etc……THAT IS MENTALLY ILL. And that is why I commended your wife the good doctor on marrying such a special “nut job”. Perhaps she can instill some humanity in you.

SEACREST OUT!!!!!!!!!!

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But Niiiiick, we are in the 21st century. As opposed to persecuting thoses that are different from us, or outcasting those that don’t fit into what we deem to be the “norm”….lets reach out in concern and try to help. Not by degrading a person, but by embracing them as a fellow human being.

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WOW all these comments about overweight people flying, I wonder what will happen if the airlines let people use their cell phones

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Find your favorite Vietnam vacations and Vietnam tours with our tour operator. We’re simply the best travel agent in Hanoi Vietnam.

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Yes, they should pay more! Lose weight America! We already pay for health care issues why are we smashed into a airline seat?

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[...] last week’s announcement that United Airlines would start charging more for overweight passengers who couldn’t fit into a single seat, now we learn that Delta Airlines will begin charging a [...]

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I take Amtrak every chance I get. I would be psyched to have additional trains. I have been on Amtrak for many vacations and visits.

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It is not worth the 5 billion “or more” that is budgeted for the task. High speed trains work in Europe and Japan because the populations are much more consolidated and urbanized than in the US. The train system in the US hasn’t turned a profit in decades, I see no justification for the taxpayers supporting failing industries. Obama says he will make some hard choices and maybe find a way to cut 100 million from his 2010 budget (1/36,000th). When the deficit increase is 1.2 trillion dollars in a single year, we need a lot more cutting than that. I have a good start, how about you cut the 5+ billion from the train idea, then add the 6 billion for the “volunteer” program. Wow I just cut 1% of the budget, I must be a magician!

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I’m pretty sure the interstate highway system hasn’t turned a profit in decades. Come to think of it, I don’t think we turn a profit from airport expansion. Should we not invest in those either? Although it would be nuts to build a HSR line clear across the country, there are regions of the US with similar density and distance between cities (this article mentions two of them). A great example is Spain, a country with a great HSR system, which is nearly identical to California in terms of density and area. Not surprisingly, California is planning to connect LA with SF and the voters just approved it.

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I really hope this happens. I love traveling by plane. I don’t travel by amtrak because the service is both slow and overpriced. High speed trains however are a whole other story. I regularly travel from Atlanta to NY, a 2-hour flight that usually takes about 6 hours (door-to-door) without any delays.
If I had the option to travel by high speed train, I would choose it every time.

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I’d love it, but the price would have to be far less than what Amtrak offers even now on its regular trains. For me to consider it worthwhile, I need to be able to travel by train for less than I can travel by air. That’s just not the case right now unless it’s a VERY short trip.

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What happened to the Georgia Rail passenger program? That would have made all of Georgia accessible from Atlanta to Savannah, Brunswick, Athens. Just think what a road trip that would be on football weekends. And to Jacksonville Florida for the Georgia Florida game. Day trips, night trips, a whole other alternate life style would blossom to invlove family bonding. Not just travel to get from point A to point B. I love the idea. Its bigger than just trying to find the best way to get where you want to go.

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The Obama plan is a nice start, but we need high speed trains to travel at least 200 mph and make stops in the major cities for it to work. Most of the corridors make sense, but the trains need to travel much faster than 110 mph for many large numbers of people to use them for intercity travel.

We need to think big and set high standards.

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“On the legacy narrow-gauge network in Hokkaido, Japan Railways use extremely lightweight active tilt trains and up-to-date databases of track geometry to *anticipate* where they can afford to accelerate and where they need to slow down. This combination allows them to achieve respectable line haul times in spite of mandated top speeds of just 130km/h (80mph). In the US, such lightweight rolling stock is not allowed to share track with heavy freight trains.”
Quoted from Rafael.

Exactly…In Oregon and California the freight trains and Amtrak share the same lines. I can’t imagine the amounts of money it would take to either replace the lines or lay down another set of tracks. Then you will have all the tree huggers protesting about it. This is another one of Obama’s stupid hair brained ideas and it will never work.

As for the Highway system it is paid for by the tax payers not subsidized by the tax payers that is the distinct difference. The airports are subsidized by the Government and the Airlines pay for the use of the airport. When we get on the highway, freeway, beltway, whatever, it is free or there may be a small toll charge. When you use Amtrak it is NOT free. That is the difference. Why not make it free? like the highway system? Amtrak’s board of directors is appointed by the President, and the DOT holds the majority of STOCK. I personally find that interesting. That is why they need to make money…because it is a business.

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The real problem here is not so much the person’s size, but rather the size of the seat. If the airline seats were not intentionally made as narrow as possible (to cram more of them on the plane) this wouldn’t be such a pervasive problem. With a seat made a reasonable width, far fewer people would ’spill over’ or not fit; Indeed, if the width really is a reasonable dimension, this problem would become sufficiently rare that it wouldn’t be worth mentioning, let alone develop a policy.

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I agree with the author. While I love trains and try to take them as much as possible for a whole host of reasons, environmental ones among them, in order for trains to have mass appeal they are going to have to be competitive with planes on routes where flying is an option in price and perhaps even time. 90 mile per hour trains are nothing to be excited about. New York Central ran trains above that speed in the 1940s. Even steam engines could move over 100 mph more than 100 years ago. The northeast corridor owned by Amtrak runs their trains (most designed in the 1970s) at 125 mph in the open stretches. Acela approaches 150 mph in the same stretches. The stops as well as rail congestion are problematic factors, dropping the overall speed on a line very dramatically. Most importantly, the fact that 70% of rail lines that Amtrak runs on currently are owned by freight carriers, means dramatic slow downs and delays. This is going to mean building new, restricted access, lines for high speed rail, not sharing tracks under unfavorable terms with freight.

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Lou wrote: “As for the Highway system it is paid for by the tax payers not subsidized by the tax payers that is the distinct difference.”

Sorry Lou, but last year the Fed dropped $8 Billion of our Federal Income Tax dollars into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to keep it from going bankrupt, that’s a subsidy since even those who don’t own cars saw their money go into the HTF. The HTF, which is funded via the Federal fuel tax, pays for the bulk of our Interstate Highway System’s (IHS) repairs and expansions.

It was estimated early last year, before the high gas prices last summer drove the fuel tax revenues down even futher, that the HTF will need a $9 Billion subsidy this year and next. Comes 2011 & 2012, that number jumps to $12 Billion, unless Congress raises the fuel taxes and soon.

Even worse is the fact that the current 5 year plan authorized by Congress that we’re operating under, was $79 Billion less than the DOT estimated it actually needed to maintain a state of good repair to the IHS. And that was before a bridge on I-35 in Minneapolis-St Paul fell into a river over a year ago, which set of a flurry of bridge inspections that found Billions more work that is needed.

Then we come to the Stimulus package which also has funding for highways, in addition to high speed rail, yet another subsidy. And many also consider the bailout to the Detroit automakers yet another subsidy.

Lou wrote: “The airports are subsidized by the Government and the Airlines pay for the use of the airport.”

If the airlines paid for the full value of their use of the airports, then the airports would not need a government subsidy. Of course if the airlines did that, they’d be bankrupt too. By the way, We The People also watched as just shy of $1 Billion of our Federal income tax dollars was dumped into the FAA to support airline operations. Heck, we even pay companies to fly almost empty airplanes into small airports around the country. The program is called EAS, Essential Air Service.

Lou wrote: “When we get on the highway, freeway, beltway, whatever, it is free or there may be a small toll charge. When you use Amtrak it is NOT free. That is the difference. Why not make it free? like the highway system?”

The highways aren’t free, you’re paying via the fuel tax, even though you, I, and the rest of America aren’t paying enough via the fuel tax.

Lou wrote: “Amtrak’s board of directors is appointed by the President, and the DOT holds the majority of STOCK. I personally find that interesting. That is why they need to make money…because it is a business.”

What other company sees it’s board appointed by only one person? What other company can basically ignore State laws? What other company pays no property taxes, state income taxes, state sales taxes?

Amtrak is a company in name only, and the only reason for that is to allow our politicians to be able to point at it’s company status to avoid blame for any problems or failures.

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high speed rail is *IDEAL* for regional travel. the DC-BOS route is incredibly well traveled. A high-speed train from ATL to Charlotte, Birmingham, Savannah or Chattanooga is almost a no-brainer. A high speed rail would make New Orleans a 2.5 – 5 hour trip (depending on train speed) rather than a 7-8 hour interstate trip. i’d take rail in a heartbeat if pricing was competitive and the schedules made sense (atl to charlotte that arrives at 1am? what?). i’d take the train more often if it wasn’t so inconvenient.

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My sister and I have booked a trip to an all inclusive resort on the hotel strip in Cancun for the second week of May. We are keeping an eye on the developments, but are uneasy about the trip because of the swine flu outbreak and the NY spring breakers who got the virus from Cancun. We are going to buy traveler’s insurance for an extra $30 each that will cover medical expenses if we get sick, and guarantee at least a 75% reimbursement if we cancel prior to a 48 hour deadline after deciding not to go. Hopefully it won’t get worse.

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Looking at a map from one of Mexico City’s major newspapers, it’s quite apparent that the epicenter of the outbreak is Mexico City, “zona metropolitana” immediately surrounding the city, and the state of San Luis Potosi. Look a little farther out and states such as Guanajauto, Veracruz, and Gurrerro (home of Acapulco) have few, if any, cases. If you are planning on going to Mexico, go! The exchange rate is fantastic, the tourist resorts are uncrowded, and the number one security priority (both in terms of Swine Flu and Narco-violence) of the Mexican government is places where tourists frequent. If you are smart and proactive, you will have a great trip! Go and enjoy!

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no way, 187 people sick??? 6 Canadians was the latest stat, you know how many Canadians have visited Mexico in the last month, thousands and only 6 reported flu like symptoms, no data on how many of the six cases where travelers, and in all 6 cases the symptoms were mild.

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So here’s the deal all, my boyfriend and i just booked all inclusive to Cancun Mexico on Thursday, we are leaving this Tuesday lol with Airfare and resort and a few activities for 7 days it cost us 3500.00 bucks, we where unable to get the travel insurance due to the fact that we booked last minute. I’m hoping that we are still able to go, but because im Navy my command may say the risks is to high due to the fact that we will be leaving soon on deployment. I also hope i am able to get a refund or change my destination to Hawaii but it’s not looking good. This sucks.

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[...] Posted in Uncategorized at 1:44 PM by April Noyce Name the best spots in the south for a wedding getaway [...]

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You don’t need witnesses ~ must get your marriage license @ probate court and there’s no waiting period or expiration date. VERY easy to get married in Georgia!

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Now if we can get the Mexicans to avoid comminh to the US!

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To Everyone with travel plans to Mexico,
DHS is about to issue a travel advisory for Mexico. If you can change your plans to travel to Mexico, do yourself a big favor and reschedule.
The current thinking for the reason that Mexico has had 80+ deaths while the US has seen none so far is that there are probably somewhere around 50,000 to 100,000 cases in Mexico, and that these official deaths are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how many people are really infected.
This outbreak has been growing in Meico for the last month – it is not controlled – I am not telling you what to do but I can tell you, as a public health person, what I am telling my friends and loved ones: DON’T GO TO MEXICO UNTIL THEY’VE FIGURED THINGS OUT AND GOTTEN THE EPIDEMIC UNDER CONTROL. Things are still at a very early stage and will contiue to change, but right now it looks like delaying travel to Mexico is a good idea, personally speaking (although not for “business”, which is why they are holding back on a total travel ban.)

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I’m going to cancun on Thursday for a week, a little worried, but i think everything will be fine.

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Let’s see: 100,000 drug gang members running loose (and their government adamantly opposing US protecting/sealing OUR side of the border), now the swine-bird flu outbreak. Nope, not going to Mexico, this year or any other year.

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I have a honeymoon planned in Riviera Maya from June 10-17th…. I am a little worried about how the flu develops .. Advice? I also have the trip paid in full with no insurance so the chances of changing plans and getting the money back are slim im sure. Im a little ify! and i dont want to ruin my honeymoon

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Like Margaret, I will be traveling to Riviera Maya late June for my honeymoon. I am also a bit nervous. I am hoping within the next few weeks, there will be a breakthrough…do you think this is reality? If the US and/or airlines put a Federal ban on traveling to Mexico, will I see a refund from the airline…regardless of trip insurance?

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I don’t understand why people use this swine-flu epidemy to show how negative, ignorant and racist this people can be, wake up MEXIHELLNO! in what era are you living in, look around you, who do you see! stop the ignorance and try to be a little more human! get out of your couch and get yourself enroll back in high schol to get some education. Patetic!

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I´m Mexican, and i´m sad because the way theworld is acting, treating us like were radioactive, and the worst isthat all is pure ignorance, and specially from the “first world”. But do what you need to, life is amazing and we will defeat this situation as a nation unitet. I hope that neither of your countryes find in this situation, because then you know what is feels like. Ah, and by the way, do you know how the virus is transmited? … gess not… Fearfull humans.

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I’m from UK and my tickets have arrived today (For 26th May) so far no insurance but would still like to go, my tour operator will not change my holiday at the moment, only for trip up to 22nd of may so i will lose my money if i decide to chane myself, i’m willing to risk it!

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Going to Mexico 5/06/09, a little worrried but like Jessica said “it’s just the damn flu”…

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I live with my wife in Puerto Vallarta, and have done so for five and a half years. I am a retired medical professional from British Columbia. When this all broke out we were at first concerned and seriously considered leaving. But after a few days we witnessed the incredible response of the Mexican government, which has been praised world wide, and as there has been no confirmed cases anywhere near us, and that this flu is treatable AND we have incredible medical services here, we decided to stay.
We love it here. It is our home. We love the Mexican people, incredible, open, caring, and tons of laughs.
And we feel much safer walking the streets here than in any major city in Canada or the US. Much safer. My grandkids age 10-16 all run around here like it is their own.
The other day I was speaking with two Federales who were having a coffee outside a local store. Young guys, 25 or so. I asked them what it was like working as a Federal police officer in Vallarta (I asked in english, my spanish isn’t so hot…). One of them told me his mother was so happy when he was posted here because it is so beautiful and safe here.
The resorts are quiet, mostly die hard Puerto Vallarta visitors it seems. The quiet is kinda nice actually, manana in the extreme. Buckets of ice cold beer for 5 bucks, beautiful beaches, sundown at 9 pm, nice life.
If you are worried about coming here for your vacation, don’t be. All of us here are going about life as usual, at a little slower pace.
See you soon.

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You bet – “The Vancouver International Folk Music Festival”!!
It’s a beloved yearly tradition in gorgeous Vancouver, B.C. Many people attend from the U.S.

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The Wanee Music Festival in Live Oak Fl. in early June is the BEST in the Southeast! Just a few hours drive South of ATL on I-75 http://www.waneemusicfestival.com

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The Savannah Music Festival (March 18 – April 6) is a great festival and withing 4 hours driving time from Atlanta. I have attended the last 3 years. The have something for everyone from kids show (during the weekdays) and Grammy award wining acts such as Dianne Reeves, Mariza, Marcus Roberts and Chick Corea. Savannah is a cool town for food and romance. Just be prepared for gnats

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Well, if those of you with plans to go are anything like my wife and I who are scheduled to leave on the 13th of May, you are probably obsessing over this flu and watching every news report to get the up to the minute updates. The problem is that I think watching the news is not the best way to prepare. Lets face it, the media organizations are part of a BUSINESS and they make their living on the number of people watching. So what do they do? They HYPE every story and DRAMATIZE every interview. So my wife and I have decided to make our decision with our brains rather than our emotions and are going. We are just going to take common sense precautions. The one thing that will keep us from going is if either of us are suffering from any flu like symptoms. My understanding is that the Mexican authorities are on high alert and may deny anyone access into the country it they exhibit signs of illness. Keep this in mind if you are sick because you don’t want to spend your time in Mexico in quarantine.

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While customer care is percieved to be relative priority, money is # 1. Airlines are a public accomidation! Why have they not adjusted seating for such issues? How many years have they had oportunity to expand seating for portions of an airplane? They have the $1,000 oversized seat with customer care that serves 15 high society, while the remaining 150 passengers are patient for service in a cramped seating arrangement. Airlines make a point of larger seats for us less fortunate, but cant seem to find a layout of seating that allows 8 or so heavy set customers per flight to fly. What of pregnant woman or extremely large athletes? Are the 6-9 month pregant woman to pay per pound? Or the 6′8″ 275lbs customer that is all muscle pay per poound? I imgine there body to weight ratio is far better then half the 150 lbs 5″9 customer but still make that “elbo space” a bit tight for there neighbor.

AIRLINES SHOULD NOT CHARGE MORE. They should maake a portion of the seating per aircraft feasible for ALL of society….heavyset, pregnant woman, and disabled.

Like the auto industry….airlines should RESTRUCTURE!

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There are some pretty cool music festivals in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I love that area anyway, so I definitely make my way down for music festivals, as well as other events.

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there must be a special in cancun june 10th cuz thats when me and my friends are going im not worried about the flu i jus dont wanna go down there and it be dead do u think that would be a possibility?

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yea meanings i have never seen a mexico newspaper in my life im 19 i dont watch the news like i said im not scared of the flu jus wanna make sure cancun is still happening when i get there

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im supposed to be flying out with 3 kids on the 5 th of june and im so upset that the travel agent wont let me change destinations free of charge…. £250 is alot of money when you have saved for a year for this holiday…first choice have just continually fobbed me off. i understand they dont probably know anything but they should let familys have pririty to change free,we are having sleepless nites, the kids are upset and worried we still have to go to mexico.travel agents should look out for there customers and not try and make more money out of a sad situation… i have travelled with this company for 14 yrs never again… has anyone had the same problems

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No. Here’s why; I will only take my pets with me when they and I can share the flight together, it’s a very easy design, giving human and companions their own compartments to share. Until then, I use car when I travel to places that I’m taking my pets.

I never let anyone who I don’t know watch my pets, this isn’t about to change.

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My fiancee and i are goin to Mexico inJune for 2 weeks. I’ve been readin the internet like insane-o. Im pretty positve we’re goin. Swine flu, drug cartell. What are you gonna do? Im just gonna keep myself up to date on all the news goin around.

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I would prefer to have my dog sitting with me, but he’s slightly too big. I would definately use it to ensure his safety.

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iam ment to be going to riviera maya on the 4th june with first choice and to say they have been useless is a understatement ive spent a fortune on my mobile and still dont know if iam going and its less than 3wks away. also ive noticed on the first choice website that they keep putting hols up to jamiaca dom rep as i check the prices most days incase we have change destinations and i think this is disgusting has anyone else noticed this?

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We just got back to California from five days in Mexico, we had an amazing time, no tourists, no problems, no flu.. I cannot think of a BETTER time to go. Just think, Chichen Itza to yourself! And the risk of getting swine flu here in SoCal is much greater than the risk in SE Mexico.

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I am suppose to go to Cancun from 6/26-7/3 with my husband and son. I am very nervous if the resort/town will be empty. Like nate asked, i would like to know. I want to enjoy Cancuna nd all it has to offer in it’s prime. I don’t want the crowds of spring break, but the natural vibe of the town is what i’m looking for. I am nervous about the flu and the drugs and the killing. Please let me know what you think, any advise or suggestion are greatly appreciated.

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Interesting points! I was actually thinking about this topic last night and this morning (particularly how to incorporate it into my own blog). Thanks for the tips, bro!

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Fantastic and interesting forum will look through more a little later, i drive a taxi in Portugal so if anyone from this forum comes on holiday to the Algarve Portugal, come and have a coffee with me, and i can also let you know lots of history from the area…

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At least someone will get a look. It has been a long time. lol

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Well, I’m always up for trying new beaches. But my absolute favorite beaches are in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach on the Alabama Gulf Coast. We go there every year (sometimes a couple times!). There is so much for my family to do, everything from fishing and golf to hiking and observing nature at its best. And of course the sugar-white beaches are fabulous! You can find a lot of info on the area at http://www.thebeachiscalling.org.

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When I was in 4th grade, my family rented a motor home and drove out to a dude ranch in Wyoming to meet some friends for a two week vacation. The drive was only supposed to take three days, but it ended up taking about eight because the motor home broke down four times. We stayed in more Holidomes than RV parks. The highlight of the trip was watching my dad get into someone’s car we had flagged down because the motor home had broken down half way up a giant hill and about 40 miles from the nearest town. We tried to write down every detail about that person and their car and hoped that my dad would actually come back unharmed in those pre-cell phone days! He did return, and we did eventually make it to Wyoming and back, but, needless to say, our RVing days were over.

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Vacation Horror…Ok..my family and I went with my parents on vacation to the DR..my mom wanted to save money and booked us on a no name brand airline with retired planes that are no longer used in the USA..just great..on the way back I felt something was wrong when we arrived at the tiki airport to a airline terminal where when you checked in there were two sticks in the ground to hang your AIRLINE sign in for check in! We boarded the plane and was 1/2 way back home..when the pilot came on and told everyone to turn off their electronic devices..my son who was playing gameboy continued playing..suddenly we looked over and heard a pop pop..outside the window the engine had caught on fire. My son said, “Mom looked what I did to the plane take my gameboy!” Behind us a lady yelled, “Media..the plane is on fire and preceded to faint in the isles! Panic hits like the wave at a football game! The flight attendent jumped over her and head to the front of the plane..my mother starts screaming she has killed the whole family, my father whose English isn’t so great asks for a drink!!..the plane is then ordered to turn around and go back to Punta Cana..we arrive to rescue vehicles on the runway and the slide gig!..we finally get off the plane to a spokesperson who states we can go back on the 3 am flight or the 9 am flight. I ask him, how many planes do you have with your airline..he says two including the one we were on and that they are sending over the part to fix the plane that just came back for the 9 am flight! I took the 3 am..THANK YOU!..well with no place to go we stayed in the open airport with 3 young kids and the rest of the people wanting to go back at 3. Well the mosquitos realized it was a buffet and proceeded to eat us alive! Nice! We are standing for 3 hours smacking ourselves! Finally the plane arrives..we cheer and rush forward to get home..ONLY to find that one of the passengers, had a immigration issue! NICE..45 min later..finally…The spokesperson announces that those that had previous assigned seat numbers could go first and the rest would board after. As soon as he said that my sleeping son proceeded to PEE ON ME!! Nice! I grabbed the spokesperson and said, “My son just pee on me..I want to go first!” I guess after looking into my eyes, he grabbed the speaker and said, “Women and children first.. and this lady is first!” I was never so happy to get home, take a shower and put on itch creme!

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We are a family of four and we love to travel. We were going on a trip to Ireland and my brother, who has a friend from Ireland, decided to join us. His friend offered to let us stay in their cottage while we were there. This was an extremely gracious offer and considering the positive impact on our travel budget, we accepted.
We visited Cork for a few days and did some sightseeing prior to heading north to the cottage. First, I would like to note that it was winter, and I’ll leave it at that. Second, the cottage was located exactly in the middle of nowhere. We stopped twice for directions while driving in sleet. The second stop was one of my favorite experiences of the whole vacation because of the authenticity of it. It was late at night and we were on a country road looking for our turn. We pulled into a pub and walked in to a room that looked very much like someone’s living room with a fire place and a bar in the middle of the room. The bar was lined with little old men who were only able to give us directions once they figured out the family tree of the person who owned the cottage. They pointed us in the right direction and when we pulled into the driveway of the cottage, it looked like something out of a fairy tale (from the outside).
My husband and brother went in to get a fire started and to turn some lights on. We got inside and found a lot of bugs, a single wood burning stove that had not been used in quite some time, and no way to wash/dry our bedsheets in order to go to bed. We were tired, hungry, and a little scared to turn the lights out. We made some macaroni and cheese and played UNO in the kitchen/living room while we waited for the stove to heat up the room. Since this was the only room that was warm, we pulled the chairs together and decided to sleep as best we could. I drew the short straw and slept straight up in a chair with my 7 year old daughter draped across me.
About an hour after we had all fallen asleep, we noticed the room started to smell smokey and the pipe coming out of the top of the wood burning stove was glowing bright orange. I quickly gathered the kids and our bags and headed to the car. On the way to the car, I noticed dozens of blinking eyes reflecting at me from the dark. Apparently, we were surrounded by a field of sheep, which I wish I could have seen in the daylight. My brother and husband put the fire out and returned everything to the way we found it.
We got in the car and drove to Galway to find a hotel room. There was a sporting event going on in the city, so after stopping at several hotels, we started to get a little discouraged. Finally, I remembered the hotel we had originally booked, which was just outside of town. We showed up at 2 am, bedraggled and wreaking of smoke. The gentleman at the desk, who obviously felt sorry for me, told us that he did not have a room to sleep 5, but we could take a double room and drag the cushions in from the couch in the hallway for one of the kids to sleep on the floor. We gladly took it and enjoyed the rest of our trip.

To this day, if you ask my kids about their trip to Ireland, they will first tell you about the night we ‘burned down’ the cottage!

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I too, have camping memories. One trip to Florida we were evacuated from the State park due to the impending arrival of a hurricane. They told us on the Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend. We weren’t due to go home until Tuesday. So, rather than drive back to Atlanta that afternoon, we looked at the map, picked an inland Florida State park and headed there. Got there and it turned out to be in the middle of swampland. High humidity, hot, gator warning signs, very large mosquitoes. We spend most of the time inside the camper, it was too miserable to be outside for more than 20 or 30 minutes. The bright spot that in the park was an underground cavern. We took the tour and were sad when it was over. It was very cool underground compared to the heat above.

We went to Amicalola Falls last February. Rainy, cloudy and foggy the whole weekend. But then again the campground is on top of the mountain. The Falls were beautiful and my two boys did manage to get some hiking in. We had extreme trouble starting and keeping a campfire. That made it difficult to get out food cooked. In the middle of the night on Saturday, we ran out of propane and the heater shut off. My husband drove for an hour, thanks to the GPS, to find propane. Finally Sunday just before we left, the sky cleared and the sun came out, so we were able to get some great pictures.

Memorial Day this year we went camping with 2 other families at a campground near Hiwassee, Georgia. Great time despite the rain. But thankfully our friends brought tarps and we strung them up between the trees and stayed dry. We had 10 kids and 6 adults and had a wonderful time. That is until we went to pack up and leave. We could not find the keys to our pickup truck. We looked for over an hour, turning everything inside out. We never did find them, but finally found the spare key, so we did manage to get home.

So our motto is, every trip must contain memories. Some funny and some not, but we will always be able to recall the trip.

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When I was a kid, we used to take a lot of road trips in the family station wagon. It was great for building the bonds with my two brothers and 2 sisters. We played ‘I spy’ and other roadtrip games. We sang ‘Puff the Majic Dragon’ and other popular songs. Of course every now and then, Dad would have to use the Daddy voice when we started getting on each other’s nerves . Something that happened on just about every trip that stood out: Dad would ask Mom, “did you get the …?” I remember she would say ‘Oh no…” It would be something different each time and we would already be a couple of hours out-of-town so we couldn’t turn around. It’s so funny…it happens to us now…but I always try to go over the list while we are still in the driveway.

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My family, and I go on vacation each year to the beach for 9 days. We have been going, and staying at the same place for 30 years. This is a very fun time for all of us. We are now 5 generations going. The things that I remember doing as a child I now see my nieces and nephew doing. It’s so great to watch. We enjoy our time on the beach, and the kids getting excited when they hear the bell of the ice cream truck coming closer is awesome. They get their ice cream, and before they can even take the first bite it’s already melting. By the time they get done with it they literally have ice cream from head to toe. They love it though. We also enjoy our time at the pool of the hotel that has a 60 foot waterslide. They kids go up the stairs and down the slide over and over again for hours, and when you tell them it’s time to go you always get the famous 1 more time. We are getting ready to go on this trip, and I’m counting down the days……13 days left.

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Last summer for my mom’s 80th bday, I took her to Austria and the Czech Republic. We were riding a train between Vienna and Prague when the train stopped and an elderly man and about a 6yr old boy joined us in our compartment. Neither spoke a lick of english and were clearly “czech country folks”. (maybe a farmer and his grandson we thought). While we were riding along the boy had a water bottle in his hand and was in my opinion being very good. He was smiling and giggling (as opposed to the american kids down a ways on the train running up and down the halls and screaming) The elderly man, clearly unhappy about something scolded the boy repeatedly. We had no idea why. Then, without warning the elderly man reached across and smacked that boy across the face! A smack that clearly would have someone here thrown in jail. The boy never cried, never whined. He sat very still and had a frown on his face. My mom and I looked at each other in horror but remembered we were in their country now, not ours. When we finally reached Prague and our hotel, my poor mom came down with a bad case of hemorhoides. I went out, not knowing any Czech, looking for a pharmacy where hopefully I could find someone who spoke english. I had visions of trying to describe hemorhoides to someone who didn’t speak english and the thought wasn’t pretty. Luckily I found someone who knew enough English to understand as I stood there pretending to scratch my a** what I was looking for. I kept the Preparation-H box as a souvenir (all the text is in Czech)

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One of the best Disney “secrets” is how to ride in the driver’s cabin of the Monorail. You don’t have to be royalty, or even pay extra. You just have to know WHERE to stand. When you approach the monorail entrance go as far forward as you can. You will see a turnstile. There is usually a castmember there so you can ask if you are in the right line. You may have to wait for the second (or third) train, but this is especially helpful after fireworks or parades when the regular cars are slammed full of guests and their strollers. The only downside… a maximum of 4 passengers at any time, so if you have a big family you may have to split up.

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Every year we take a road trip to Pensacola Beach. Its breathtaking with its sugar white sand and blue clear water. Its a must see & experience. http://www.visitpensacolabeach.com/

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[...] Read the previous entry: We want your family vacation stories! [...]

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[...] the rest here: CONTEST Finalists for family vacation stories! | Still Traveling Tags: brother, cottage, join-us-, their-cottage, were-going, were-there- [...]

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I recall playing that game with my family members also. Great way to travel.

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[...] You’ve sent in your tales of memorable family trips. We’ve narrowed them to three finalists. Vote for your favorite story and qualify to win a grand prize. [...]

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I guess you can consider this a family vacation. My father had recently married a bimbo and he wanted me to meet my new “grandparents”. (My dad got along with them because they were the same age.)
On one hot July day, Dad, the bimbo, my boyfriend and I started up the interstate in Dad’s brand new motor home. The bimbo had picked it out so of course, it had all of the bells and whistles. After many miles, my boyfriend told me that he was not feeling well and went into the bathroom. That is when we discovered that there was something horribly wrong with the plumbing.
The smell that filled vehicle was deadly. The bimbo and I kept looking at each other, and finally broke into hysterical laughter. We started opening every window as quickly as possible which resulted in everything not tied down to start blowing around like we were stuck in the middle of a tornado. Soon thereafter, we discovered that opening the windows and letting in hot air only exacerbated the smell.
My father reacted to the smell and the flying debris by trying to outrun it. The worse the smell got, the faster he drove. Pretty soon, we were flying. He passed everyone and everything. You know how they tell you to vary your speed when breaking in a new vehicle, well that went out the window (while the smell did not). He had the pedal to the metal and was not letting up.
My boyfriend finally came out of the bathroom, looking sort of green. When he realized what he had caused, he played the “I am sick” card (which was really the “I am embarrassed” card) and went to the back to lie down.
Shortly afterward, he called me to the back. There, he took my hand and asked me to marry him. That was almost 15 years ago and we have been happily married for over 14 years now. Dad and the bimbo did not fare as well. She has gone back to bimbo-land which made everyone happy.
So, while most women can paint a pretty picture of the story of how they got engaged, the one I can relate has mini-tornados, noxious odors and my dad driving up the interstate like a bat out of hell.

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I’m sending my husband to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a long weekend of golf…but he has to bring me and the kids with him! Can’t pass up a family vacation at the Alabama Gulf Coast. And it’s a great place for golf, so he’ll get plenty of time on the green that weekend!

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Georgia folks in NYC
When we were in college, my husband (boyfriend then) and I decided to go to New York City with my sister and a friend of hers. My parents were living in New Jersey so it was an easy hour bus ride. We arrived at Port Authority bus station in New York not knowing what to expect. The first thing we saw when getting off the bus was a crash right in front of us. Two cars collided into each other. The drivers got out, started cursing and yelling at each other. Then they proceeded to get back in their cars and drive off. What a welcome to the Big Apple! Well now we are in NY, what should we do? Going to see a Broadway play sounded like a great idea! We went to Times Square to buy tickets and were amazed at the mobs of people waiting in line. We proceeding to get in a random line and after about 45 minutes of not moving anywhere, we realized the futility of this venture. Someone told us we could go to the Winter Garden theatre and get tickets there to see Cats. We found our way there and hopped in another long line. We were getting tired and hungry so while we waited, my husband went across the street to get Arby’s. He had to take out a loan at the bank next door for the unbelievable New York prices for a measly greasy meal. After another hour, we made it to the ticket window only to be told the only seats left were balcony seats with a partial view for $45! We decided it wasn’t worth it. Now we have wasted a couple of hours in New York City and haven’t seen anything! We headed to the Empire State Building. At this point, I really needed to use the bathroom. I asked the guard where to find a bathroom and he rudely says “Upstairs! Move along!” Upstairs??! We got our tickets and proceeding to the line. I think all people do in New York City is wait in line! We go up the elevator a few flights and got off again looking for a bathroom. Once again we were told the bathroom was Upstairs…Yes, I had to go to the top of the Empire State Building to find a bathroom! Next we planned to go to the Statue of Liberty. However, when we got there, the last ferry of the day had left. We braved ourselves on the subway with a lot of rude and pushy people. Getting directions was nearly impossible and the maps were confusing and not very helpful. We finally made it to Little Italy for a delicious Italian dinner (the highlight of the trip!) Then we realized that we had to find our way back to Port Authority to get home. We were on the subway discussing how to get back when another man told us he was going there so follow him. He got off and we set out to follow him. Being from the South, we were not used to the pace of the New Yorkers. He took off running and we boogied after him. It was quite the site, the four of us chasing the strange man down the street. A couple of times we thought we’d lost him, but one of us would shout “There he goes around that corner! Hurry!”. Breathless and tired, we finally made it to the bus station. My husband decided that New York City was too faced-paced and unfriendly for his taste. He was ready to go home to the southern hospitality of Atlanta.

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Squirrel!

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The “pull my finger” guy writes really well.

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We’re leaving in a week to Cancun mexico. I’ve been reading alot, and it obviuos its not a ghost town, things are open.(malls and clubs) Hope everything will be fine. I will for sure comment on this site when i get back.

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So my wife and I are on a company trip to Amelia Island and staying at the Ritz Carlton. I’m scheduled to play golf with a colleague but I have to rush to take a shower and in my haste to get in and get out, I hang my shirt from the emergency fire sprinkler on the ceiling just inside the bathroom door. As I’m showering my wife rushes in, the door brushes the shirt and sets off the emergency fire sprinkler in the room and I mean it was like Niagara Falls in the bathroom. A flood begins in the bathroom with water running into the bedroom and out into the hallway. My wife is screaming, not knowing what has happened–only that she is being sprayed with gray water. I’m in a panic running out of the room with just a towel setting off other alarms trying to find a housekeeping person. I made the tee time but we’ve never been invited back!

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I laughed right out loud on the ‘Pull My Finger’ story.

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[...] Vote for the finalists of family vacation stories! [...]

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Wow. What an ugly issue, huh? In 2 weeks I am going to Ireland & I have been in tears since I purchased the tickets. Why? Im fat. LOL! If you think it’s uncomfortable to sit NEXT to me? Try BEING me!! I am already anticipating the narrow ailes, the seats, the struggle with the seatbelt – and oh no… the bathrooms! I don’t know if I require a belt extension. I Can put my armrest down, but not sure about the tray! AND I am able to squeeze my “girth” into the seat. But It still sucks. For me, the person next to me, and for the poor flight attendants who have to “watch me” board to see if Im gonna cause the plane to lean to one side.
This is my question. From reading people’s cruel & humiliating respnses re: fluffy folks having the NERVE to leave our houses & force the perfect to look at us – what is the issue? Is the issue #1 – charge us more as a form of punishment for letting ourselves “go” & wanting to fly somewhere? Why should we have to buy another seat?? WHY can’t the airlines accomodate us? which, in turn, accomodates you perfect skinny people?? OR #2 – Is the issue that there is an actual SAFETY concern regarding our weighing more than average, thus creating a risk to the mechanics of the aircraft?? Many of you mention that we should have to weigh-in & pay a “fat tax” if we exceed the set requirement. That IS reason enough to charge us more & I would have no problem with that. I want a safe flight too!!
Many of you – and RIGHTLY SO – commented that you paid for a full seat on a flight and deserve to enjoy your trip. Absolutely. Totally agree. BUT – I did too. I paid for a seat on a plane & like it or not – I deserve to be comfortable as well & not subjected to nasty remarks, insults, stares & humiliation. Why am I “lesser” of a customer, deserving of nothing, but expected to pay the same as, if not twice as much as the skinny? If airlines are going to charge us more, humiliate us in front of everyone, threat “bumping” us off the flight… why should I have to pay to be treated that way?? Would any of you skinny folks pay more for that treatment? Do you really think that makes me feel good? Do you really think Im not aware of my weight issue? Do you really think I’m luggin’ this extra crap around with me for giggles??
Make the reason for the discrimination clear at least. I’m a kind person. I’m a reasonable person. I am a respectful person. I am a mother, a daughter, an aunt, a sister & a friend. I am a 911 dispatcher who may save your life someday. Would it really be such a hardship on you all to be as kind to me as I am to you?
Yes, YOU… the one who’s been up drinking all night & smells like stale booze. YOU, the chain smoker. YOU, the one who refuses to wear deodorant. YOU, the one who bathes in perfume/cologne. YOU, who ate a pound of garlic before boarding & didn’t brush their teeth. YOU, with the crying baby, sick baby, hyper-active toddler, or kid that stares at me through the crack between the seats in front of mine. YOU, who won’t stop talking to me. YOU, who WON’T talk to me. You with the spider legs longer than the aisle who has no choice but to stretch them over near me…(and go right ahead! BUT,only after you purchase an extra “floor” space).
I appreciate EVERYONE’s right to get what they paid for & expect a comfortable flight where they can move & breath & not feel “smooshed”… I really do. I want that as well.
How about instead of attacking us poor, lazy, smelly, oozers of fat into others paid for personal space – we ask the airline’s to stop packing us in like sardines & for THEM to address the issue. Don’t any of you get that?? The airlines are struggling & instead of providing REAL answers & resolutions – they are pointing to the fat & yelling “blame them!! it’s all their fault!! We don’t like them on our planes EITHER!!” and ask them to grow the hell up & make seats/sections available to accomodate ALL customers who are paying the SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY & deserve the SAME treatment.
Thanks for allowing me to vent – and if any of you are forced to sit next to me in 2 weeks to Ireland, I promise to lean out into the aisle the entire 10hours & make sure NONE of our body parts even slightly touch….

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[...] What is the grand prize! [...]

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[...] What is the grand prize! [...]

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My wife and our son took a Disney Cruise, which was wonderful by the way, and booked the flights both ways with all transfers included. Everything was great until it was time to come home. Instead of the Orlando Airport, where we flew into, we were routed to I believe, Melbourne. We were the only people routed that way so we had our own special car and driver. After we finally found our own special car and driver, we took off for the wonderful airport in Melbourne, Florida. We arrived a bit over 3 hours before our flight left so we checked in and went through security, to the gate. The airport is not quite what we were used to in Atlanta, but then again, we would still be on Delta. After a short time of waiting, the other flight, (not flights), left the airport. Ironically, it was also for Atlanta. The wonderful people of the Delta crew finished up their work after the flight left and they took off for the terminal lobby. There was one guy who was working a small snack table and he left also. This left myself, my wife, and my son to occupy the whole concourse. Not another soul in sight. It didn;t take long to get thirsty so I went looking for some refreshment. Not one machine or water fountain in sight. I told my wife I would go back through the terminal and get us something to drink and a snack, to bide our time. I goth the snacks and started to go back to the concourse and take their snacks and was stopped at security and told I could not go back to the gate. The reason stated to me was that security was at lunch. It would be an hour or so until they returned. OK, can you go tell my wife to come out and wait with me. No I can’t. Is their anyone who can go tell them to come out? No I was told. I went to the Delta ticket counter and the same helpful people who were at the gate for the earlier flight were standing there doing absolutely nothing. I told them my dilema and asked for their help. There comment was, that they had no one who could go get my wife and son. OK, call back there and page them. No, can’t do that either. All these people were going to let my wife and six year old son wait there for the better part of two hours, not knowing where I was or what I was doing, in a strange airport on top of that. I went up the chain of command until I reached the airpot manager and he was able to convince the helpful Delta folks that they could go get my wife and son. They finally, rudely, went and asked her to come out and meet me. Had I been the type person to yell, they would have heard me calling them. It was that close, but all the helpful security workers couldn’t go back and get them. We finally were able to board and fly home, back to Atlanta. Here we go to pick up our luggage and, yep, you guessed it. It was not there. Without going into detail about that fiasco, it took me 5 more helpful security people, until one of them would look on their little handheld and tell me that my luggage was sent on the frst flight, that left as we were checking into the Melbourne Airport. It was already in the lost and found office, on a shelf. Moral of the story is; I think I will drive to the port for my next cruise.

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What a shame the AJC is sponsoring a “travel horror stories” contest, when the nation’s tourism industry — and Americans who work in it, and those whose livelihoods are in a trickle down fashion also dependent upon it — have been so negatively impacted due to the economy.

Why not be “part of the solution” instead and sponsor a contest about the best vacation taken in the USA? Or where/why would you like to visit someplace in this great land of ours next vacation?

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Perdido Key in Florida was one of the best vacations I ever took! We didn’t play “pull my finger”, but we did swim and play frisbee on the gorgeous beaches, and we even went camping for a few days! Perdido Key was an absolute blast.

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My Husband and I love to scuba dive. We try to take a trip once a year. We went with a group to Cozumel, Mexico. I did not feel the need to take my entire wallet so at the last minute, before leaving for the airport, I took my credit card wallet out of my purse and threw it on the bed taking only my one credit card and my Green card out of the wallet and sliding them both into the side flap of my purse…or so I thought….. (My green card was in an envelope to protect the magnetic strip) We had a great 5 day dive trip and on Sunday we headed back to Cancun to catch our flight to Atlanta. Standing in line at the check in counter I reached into my purse felt the envelope with my “green” card and pulled it out to present it with my passport, imagine my horror when I looked down and saw what I was holding was my work “Manager card”, the only other card I keep in an envelope!! I rummaged back into my purse and there was nothing else in the side pocket… I had a semi out of body experience as I realized that in my haste to discard my wallet back in Atlanta I had pulled out the only other card that I kept in an envelope, and being in a hurry had not actually looked at it as I stuffed it into my wallet… Yikes!! I tried to stay calm and not panic, hoping that delta check in might not ask for the green card. I know I was grasping at straws at this point, but thought that seeing as I have plenty of stamps in my passport showing back and forth travel and I have a USA driver’s license I might be OK! Well that was not the case. They refused to allow me on the plane. Our dive master tried to convince them that he would be responsible for me and that once we got to Atlanta I would not try to enter the USA until my husband went home and retrieved my green card, they still refused to let me board the flight… after much consternation it became clear I was not going anywhere without that green card… I convinced my husband he would have to leave me in Cancun and return to Atlanta to get my card and send it to me…. Easier said than done! Monday also happened to be a federal Holiday so we knew we would get no help till Tuesday if at all, so it made sense to leave me in Mexico and for the Husband to try to overnight my card. Hotel arrangements were made and I bid farewell to all our scuba friends.( all 19 of them!!) Of course looking stupid in front of all those people did not help with the way I was feeling right then either. So off I went into a taxi to take me to the hotel. I would spend the next three nights in Mexico, while my husband tried to get me my green card! I got ripped off in the taxi on the way to the hotel; over paying by 450 Pesos…I found this out on the way back to the Airport as I had an honest taxi driver for that occasion…. So I settled in and for two days had a migraine headache with no medication. Back in Atlanta my husband was hitting a few bumps of his own…Try telling someone you are mailing a green card to Mexico and see how unhelpful they become…after three attempts to get a carrier to overnight my green card, he found one that will remain unnamed, as they said they should not do it but they could see his growing distress. Being international it would not necessarily be overnight but it would get to me as fast as humanly possible. In the interim I was calling from the hotel using my credit card to find out when I should receive my green card, and then on the second day of my exile, my bank noticing the calls and charges coming out of Mexico put a block on my card! My first indication was at lunch when the waiter returned my card and said did I have another form of payment…luckily I had some pesos so I paid left and returned to the hotel, tried to call my bank to see what was going on as I knew I had plenty of $$ in the account. So now I cannot even make that call as the phone company is telling me my card is blocked. I am wondering how I am going to pay for the hotel stay. I have only 500 pesos. I am at this point still thinking I need the 500 pesos to get back to the Airport. I managed to have one of the telephone operators call my husband and have him call me so I could tell him my card is blocked and get my bank on the phone and unblock my card… Finally on Wednesday I received the envelope with my green card, I checked out and rushed to the Airport to try to get on the 4pm flight, I just made it and arrived back in Atlanta later that night…After that experience I decided it as time to apply for my USA Citizenship so that would never happen again and I am glad to say I am now a US citizen! The phone charges on my card, alone, were over $800 for those 4 days…That was 5 years ago, now finally, I can laugh about it, but at the time it was not at all amusing!

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In 2001, my wife and I took our Honeymoon to St. Lucia in the Caribbean. We were staying at a nice all-inclusive resort and all was well for the first two days. However, on the third day, I awoke with a stomach ache that I subsequently ignored while drinking, snorkeling, just trying to make the most of our time. Later that day, I became violently ill, throwing up with severe pains and other digestion related complications. I went on like this for a while until I became sick to the point where I couldn’t walk. I somehow ended up on the phone with a doctor who told me I needed to go to a hospital. However, the hotel did not help us get there! There was no ambulance and we had to call a taxi to take me into Castries and to the hospital. I was carried into the hospital by my wife and a man from the hotel who had finally volunteered to come and help us. They took me through the lobby (dirty with little plastic public school chairs) and into the main room of the hospital where there were 6 beds (for a city of 60,000!). They took me to a bed that I noticed had blood stains on the sheets and laid me down. I remained there for a while, watching the bugs crawl on the wall next to me. Much time passed, and I didn’t know why my wife wasn’t with me and why no one was examining or treating me. I later found out that the hospital refused to treat me until my wife brought back a receipt from the lobby saying she had paid. The complication with this is that she was very stressed out and hadn’t eaten in a while and therefore had fainted in the lobby. All this time my eyes were rolling in to the back of my head and I was certain that bad things were coming. Anyway, there was a tall man in the bed next to me who woke up about this time. I heard him say “Boy”, “Hey Boy, I’m going to kill you boy”. He kept repeating this over and over and over for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, my wife arrived, handed the doctor a yellow paper, came over, slammed the curtain shut between me and the crazy man who wanted to kill me and sat down on the bed next to me. At this point, I needed to go to the bathroom (I still hadn’t been examined or treated). My wife walked me there. It turns out that the bathroom was a toilet with no seat and no toilet paper that sat exposed along a wall in a hallway. I sat there and then realized that something was off. There was no wall at the end of the hallway! There was a crumbling section of a wall with people milling about on the other side of it, all of them watching me half-consciously using the toilet in the hall. After that ordeal, my wife walked me back to the treatment room and to my bed. Finally, the doctor came over and pulled out a needle (which was not brand new and pulled from a sterile package ) and started the IV. I was there on the IV and sleeping for hours. Eventually, they told us to leave. We had to call a cab, I still had to be carried to it and got back to the hotel. The next day, my wife informed me that we had spent $125 of the $175 we had left on us and still had several days of the trip left to go. We then had to spend the other $50 on a prescription I was given and the taxi to go and get the prescription. Good thing it was an all-inclusive resort! That was it, we tried to enjoy the rest of the trip while I recovered. I’d love to win a trip so that I could give my wife the Honeymoon she never had!

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How about this for a “vacation of a lifetime.” I’m a school teacher in Dekalb, so my husband and I were married last year after school ended. So this year (literally just 2 weeks ago), we were packed and getting ready to leave for the airport for our 1 year anniversary trip to Spain. Our plan was to travel the country for about 8 days, via trains, rental cars, etc.
On Monday, June 1 (our flight was to leave at 5:45 to Barcelona), I went outside to cover the grill on our back patio at 12:45PM…since we were leaving for the airport at 3:00. As I moved the grill to put it back in place, I felt a sharp pain on my right foot. At first, I thought it was a bee sting…but as I jumped away and looked down, I see a foot-long copperhead snake!!! It had bitten my 2nd toe on my right foot.
My husband rushed me to the paramedics, who took me to the hospital. The initial diagnosis was that I’d have to stay for 2 hours for observation….then it became 6 hours. Delta was AWESOME, and agreed to move our flights, at no charge, to Tuesday, June 2….then, they made me stay overnight…which then became 2 nights.
As I write this, I’ve just begun walking (limping–not near full use yet), and I drove for the first time on Saturday.
We had to cancel everything–hotels in 5 cities, Rail Europe train passes, rental cars, meeting with friends, and our flights. So rather than shopping in museums, sampling all kinds of Spanish culture, and seeing the great museums of Spain (I’m an art teacher), I spent the vaction on crutches and laid up, taking pain and poison medications. Call it the nightmare vacation that never got off the ground.

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Some years ago, I took a vacation through Togo, Ghana, and Cote D’Ivoire. I was a peace corps volunteer living in Niger at the time, and was SO looking forward to seeing green things, water, and fruit (Niger is pretty much entirely Sahara desert). My traveling buddy and I were fairly broke, so we were traveling with just a little bit of cash and nothing else (we only earned $175 a month as volunteers – and had no credit cards or bank accounts as back-up).

We started in Togo, which was lovely and lush. A ‘butterfly walk’ through the forest revealed not a single butterfly, but that was ok – there were pineapples and fruit growing right out of the ground and that was awe-inspiring enough (did I mention that Niger is a desert?). We traveled by bush taxi to Ghana, still having a great time. We stayed at some pretty crappy hotels, but that was expected on our budget. We decided to be adventerous and cross the border into Cote D’Ivoire by a less-traveled route – by canoe. Unfortunately, the town where the boats take off from was tiny, empty, and had no banks. Almost all of our currency was in Ghanaian ceedees, which are worthless outside of Ghana. We forged ahead, thinking someone in Cote D’Ivoire would surely change our money for us.

We hit Cote D’Ivoire, and the little canoe dropped us off at a remote guard post in the middle of nowhere with only us 2 women and 3 male soldiers at the post – around us was just forest for seemingely forever. They seemed friendly, and served us tea just before the bus came. We got on the bus, and had the most bizarre experience of our lives trying to get to Abidjan. Turns out the tea was drugged – an apparently common trick to enable the soldiers to then steal everything from unsuspecting travelers before they are loaded on the bus to the city. Our bus was – fortunately – on time. So we had nothing stolen, but were completely dazed and nearly incoherent for the trip. The trip took around 4 hours; in my memory it was at least 23 hours and went round and round past the same odd patch of forest. I have a vague memory of being dropped off in a huge bus port station, and of stepping off the bus and thinking I might fall straight over. I remember following my traveling companion blindly to the next bus for us to get on, my brain wasn’t working and I couldn’t quite connect where we were or where on earth we were walking to. Frighteningly enough, she remembers it as *me* being the one to find the correct bus, and swears that she followed me in an exhausted stupor and has no idea how *I* got us to the bus. How we actually got on that bus will forever be a mystery.

We made it to the Abidjan airport early the next morning, and decided to wait all day for our evening flight back home as we still had no money in acceptable currencies. When the time for the flight came, there was no mention of it on the board. We asked at the counter, and were told the flight didn’t exist. ??? That was it – no other explanation. Your flight doesn’t exist, go home. There will be a flight that *does* exist tomorrow.

Well, we had no money, so along with some other folks we tried to sleep in the airport. They kicked us out at nightfall and locked the doors. So we decided to sleep on the lawn with the other Africans that had been kicked out with us. Around an hour later security came and chased us off the lawn. Having no idea what to do, and still being fairly woozy even a full day later (hunger might have played a part in that), we spent some of our pathetic amount of CFAs (local currency) to take a taxi to a horrible little hotel near the airport. We begged begged begged the hotel guy to accept our $4 or so for a room. He finally gave us a room (for nearly the rest of our cash) that appeared to be some sort of utility room, but that had 2 tiny, dirty little beds in it. We shoved furniture up against the door (this was really not a good area of town we were in) and tried to sleep. The next day, hungry and exhausted, we made it back to the airport where the flight really did exist.

The flight, operated by Air Ivoire, was horrifying. The carpet on the floor was ripped and showing plywood planks, there was water dripping on our heads, roaches ran by as the stewardess came through and sprayed us all with pesticide. The take-off was shaky and the landing in Mali for our layover was terrifying. It was so bad an African passenger (we were the only non-Africans on the plane) stood up and tried to rally us all to leave the plane in protest and demand a new plane for the next leg to Niger. Not a one of us budged. Much like the rest of the passengers, there was no way we could afford to buy another plane ticket – or even a bus ticket (Mali also uses CFA as currency – same as Cote D’Ivoire and Niger – and we had none). We also knew full well that Air Ivoire would have no qualms at all about leaving an entire group of passengers standing on the tarmac rather than capitulate to any demands. In the decision of whether to risk falling out of the sky on a broken plane, or being stranded in Mali with no credit card, no money, no phone, and no idea how to make it home – we chose the plane.

The plane of course made it to Niger, and all of the passengers cheered in joy when we landed and were still alive. We were able to find tourists heading to Ghana to buy our ceedees in exhcange for CFA, so we could make it from the airport back to our villages. I still have lovely memories of Togo and Ghana, though my memories of the last few harrying days of the trip exist in my mind as a hazy, drug-induced dreamlike nightmare. I still travel in ways that are probably inadviseable, but now I *ALWAYS* have back-up funds in US dollars, always have a credit card, and never accept offers of free drinks!

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This was truly a vacation that we had anticipated all year – my husband had spent a month in Emory Hospital nine months before, and we definitely needed some rest and relaxation! So, along with another family of good friends, off to Daytona Beach we headed – my husband, myself, our two daughters, and two of their friends – for a week of sun and fun! Well, from the day we arrived, one aspect of the sun and fun was definitely missing – the sun! Every day dawned cloudy, with just a few peeks of sun here and there – and by 2 p.m., the downpours started daily! On Friday morning, we awoke to some very bright yellow substance streaming through the bedroom curtains – sure enough, when I looked outside, the sun was shining brightly and the beach was already packed! We couldn’t get our bathing suits on and get out the door fast enough!
We had spent a couple of hours soaking in the sun and playing in the surf – I was dozing in my beach chair, and my husband and friend were playing Frisbee. The next sound I heard was a very loud “whomp”, and when I looked up, found my husband laying on the beach on his right arm – as he had gone up to catch the Frisbee, a toddler riding a small three-wheeled beach bicycle had literally driven right under his feet, taking them right out from underneath him! He jumped up, with blood streaming from both knees, holding his elbow – and took off running, bleeding, into the ocean – literal shark bait! He had just stopped his Coumadin treatment, so he was bleeding quite profusely – so off we headed to the condo to get cleaned up. We hadn’t made it across the beach before he decided that we had better take a trip to the emergency room – his arm was really throbbing, and he thought it might be broken! I yelled over to my crew to tell them what was going on, and they all came running across the beach – we had made it up the steps to poolside by that time, and waited on them at the top. After we had explained that we were going to the hospital, and for them to stay and enjoy the day, we headed up to the room to get the car keys – only to hear an extremely loud clanking and banging noise – and when I turned around, saw my youngest daughter laying on the floor by the gate, looking like she was having convulsions – she had passed out! A friend picked her up, and we ran into the inside bar area, dripping wet, and lay her down on the couch – I ran to the front desk to ask them to call 911, which some nice person had already done. By the time I got back, the paramedics were coming in – by daughter was already coming to, but they ran straight over to her – a beautiful young teenager in a bikini – completely bypassing my tall, slender, balding husband, who was still bleeding profusely all over the beautiful carpet, holding his arm pitifully, and turning a bright green color! As I explained to the paramedics what had happened, I heard my oldest daughter’s boyfriend saying “mama, she’s going down” – and I turned around to see her hitting her head on the table as she passed out!! There were only two paramedics, and three of my sick family – they didn’t seem to know who to turn to first! The condo employees were running around trying to help also, getting wet rags for everyone and asking if we needed anything to drink! (I figured the condo manager was trying to decide how he was going to get the blood out of the carpet!) I asked the paramedics if we could put them all in the ambulance, and they told me that they would have to call 2 more ambulances – only one patient per vehicle! But, we have some VERY good friends – they had just purchased a brand new Excursion, with leather seats – into which we proceeded to climb to go to the hospital, bleeding, and covered in suntan oil! I’m sure glad that oil is good for the leather! Off we went to the emergency room, dressed only in our bathing suits, to find ourselves waiting in the small waiting area – my youngest daughter, who was feeling much better by this time, said “well, we sure look like a bunch of hicks sitting here barefoot in our bathing suits!”
After a three hour wait (like I said, we have some really great friends!), the consensus was that my two daughters had passed out from the hot sun and dehydration, my husband’s bleeding had clotted on it’s own, and that he had broken his arm!! He got a bright pink cast, and off we headed back to the beach – what a trooper he is! But the sun? Gone, hidden behind some really high haze, just waiting on the next rain shower! And those friends? Well, they haven’t gone back to the beach with us since then!

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Spring Break 2007. My family and I were on a short get-a-way to Helen, Ga and my kids wanted to swim, so we hunted a hotel that had a indoor pool because it was kinda chilly. We wound-up at the Super 8, checked in for a 2 night stay, paid cash(upfront), went to our room and changed to go to the pool. We had a great time in the pool and went back to our room to shower and get ready for bed. Thats when the trouble started….(I am the practical joker in the family and I am always trying to scare everyone.)So my kids got out of the shower and the floor in the bathroom was wet, I had my pj’s on and I had to use the bathroom, so I grabbed a towel, wiped up the floor and tossed it in front of the sink in the other room. Well, when I tossed it, I noticed that there was something brown that looked like a shoe string in it. Being funny, I screamed SNAKE. My husband and kids jumped on top of the beds sreaming and yelling “Get it, Get it” I’m laughing at them because they were so scared. I bent over the towel to actually see what was in it and dang if it wasn’t a snake. It looks up at me and hisses and a fork-it tounge come out and shakes at me! Then I really start screaming snake, snake! I WET MYSELF!(I do not like snakes at all)and they knew that I was for real this time. My husand, not coming to my rescue, yells at me to get the garbage can and put it over it to trap it. I say a few bad words at him and try to get him to understand that “he” is “the man” and he should be the one to trap the snake. My kids were screaming, My oldest daughter was yelling she wanted to take a picture of it and all I was thinking was this snake is between me and the door, and if the flash goes off will it scare the snake more and it come after me like the deer did in “Are we there yet”. Well,”I” trap the snake in the garbage can, with my husband still standing on the bed and my kids run to get the front desk attendant. The lady come in and takes the snake, kills it and returns to informs us that it was a baby copperhead. She asks us if we wanted to change rooms, my husband tells her that it was late(by this time it was 1:00am)and he did not want to move everything so “he” was ok. SHe leaves our room. I explain to him(in a nice, sweet, calm voice)that if there is a baby cooperhead, there is a BIG MAMA Copperhead somewhere near and me and the kids would not be staying in that room, we would be sleeping in the truck! He then decides that we should change rooms. The lady at the front desk changes our room to a room on the upper floor, kinda laughing about our situation. We get to the other room and we try to settle-in, it is now about 3:00am. We try to watch happy cartoons to forget about the snake. That works for my husband and kids, they fall asleep(for a little while)I keep watching cartoons and a dang GEICO commerical comes on, that stupid lizards tail looks like a snake wiggling around. Then everything starts looking like little snakes. Even on Sponge Bob-theres a little eel that looks like a snake. I start feeling like something is crawling on me, I can’t sleep so I go downstrairs and wait for them to wake-up. They come down around 8:00am and say that they can’t rest either. We speak to the new lady at the counter and explain that we would not be staying the 2nd night and she stated that the other lady told her what had happened and that she was sorry. Well, I was really expecting to be refunded(at least)for the 2nd night that we had pre-paid for and she said that she couldn’t do that and that we needed to speak to the manager that was out of town and he would get with us sometime next week. I kept calling and calling for a few weeks only to finally receive a letter from the hotel that stated that they were sorry for our “unwanted, un-invited guest” in our room,(never mentioned SNAKE) and offered us a free night stay. We NEVER took them up on the offer!

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It was summer after the ending of the local neighborhood baseball season, the team accompanied with the families decided to take a trip down to the Georgia and South Caroline coasts visiting Tybee Island and Hilton Head Island. Tybee Island we had fun even after discovering that the shark fins in the water were actually, dolphin fins. We finally, ventured over to Hilton Head the beach was very crowded this particular day, and we followed all the beach rules setting as close to the life guard as possible. I kept a close watch on my then eight year old son who was playing beside me with a hermit-crab that I was totally afraid of, he leaves the hermit-crab next to me and ventures off to play in a water hole with some toddlers, after thinking he will be playing there for a minute I turned my attentions to the hermit-crab and then I discovered my son was nowhere in sight. I asked the group, those of who had skipped the temptations of entering the water if they had seen Cameron, all answered no…I approached the team in the waters who had slowly drifted from our direct view but still very near the lifeguard, all indicated they had not seen my son. I turned to walk just about five feet to the life-guard who was now moving back his chair due to the slow rise of the tide…I informed him that my eight year old son was missing and provided him with a brief description, dark curly hair, missing his two front teeth, grey and black swimming shorts and answers to Cameron.
Fear engulfed me from every angle I felt completely helpless knowing that I could not swim and would not be able to assist the volunteers who had now began to search the waters for him, as I fought back tears, fears, and visions of seen him floating face down in the water.
I ran as fast as I could up and down the beach like a deranged woman, Cameron, Cameron…No God…I would not leave this beach without him I thought…
My sister holding me as a sobbed hopelessly, strangers all standing holding me, the word spread like wildfire that a child was missing on the beach…each working together to help find my son…No word 15 minutes had passed it seemed like hours…
As the first lifeguard encouraged me to stay near him as he too awaited to hear of any sightings of Cameron. Finally, finally, Cameron was found safe and unharmed…life-guards found him frantically running along the north end of the beach…Later we learned that when Cameron left the water hole playing with the toddlers he walked to the beach to tell the other players about the hermit-crab but, says that they were too far out in the water and decided not to enter because he does not like the saltiness of the water, when he turned to come to where we were gathered he used a Kite as a maker to locate us on the beach, the kite we were playing with earlier, but he says that it was someone else’s kite and he started running hoping to find me..
When we left Hilton Head to return to our rented van someone had backed into the back of this brand new van denting it severely…I was to so ready to return home some much so I received a $250 speeding ticket..

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At one point we lived in Baton Rouge and my wife was from Houston. We decided we would take our two small girls on a camping trip to Galveston Beach. So we loaded up the car and off we went envisioning a beachside camp site with the children playing at the beach while mom and dad relaxed in the warm July sunshine! Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was a sign at our camp site that said “Beware of Snakes”. Should have been a clue. But no, we needed good ‘ol family fun! As the day progressed, it became darker and darker. By 5PM it was raining, storming and the wind was blowing so hard we were sure the tent was going to be blown away. Later we found that a tornado was in the area! The wind ripped a hole in the tent and the rain was coming through. Then the cooler over turned and soaked the floor and spilled all the food out on the floor shorting out the radio and the battery powered light. We didn’t feel safe leaving and we were stuck in the rainy wet tent with no edible food, no light and two scared kids. The rain was so bad we couldn’t get outside to light a fire. Of course during all of this, the two little ones had to go to the bathroom. So we wait until we felt the rain let up a tad bit and trudged through the wind and rain to the bathrooms and then back again. Oh and the snakes showed up on the walk path….
Now we are all freaked out by the snakes that might come in the tent, the children are scared and crying because its dark – and the snakes are out there, wind, rain, lightening and loud thunder going on everywhere – and its still only about 6PM! Finally We really never were able to sleep, but the rain, the wind and the fear of the snakes never stopped. When morning came, we packed what we could and left. We went into Houston to a Hotel looking exactly like you would imagine: wet, tired, terrible. My children were dragging and when we finally made it back home to Baton Rouge, we took them to the Doctor. One had strept throat and the other had Scarlet Fever! Honest to goodness, that was the last camping trip we have ever taken.

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My worst vacation was when I had a staycation and decided to open the AJC and I started ready how abunch or babies were complaining about getting mugged in Paris and how his girlfriend was more of a man the he was. Way to go bud, go ahead and save your wallet instead of getting your girlfiends stuff. Way to represent the male population. You should be banished to france. I guess we can all figure out why she is not his girlfriend anylonger. Probably got with the guy who stole her stuff that night.

Good luck with life

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Here’s another one…we lived in Tokyo on business for three years. Upon our return we flew from Tokyo to Honolulu. My wife was 9 months pregnant, so we stayed in Hawaii for a few days so she could get her rest. All was good until we went to leave Hawaii and return home. When we got to the airport, we were notified that there had been a change in the aircraft. We had first class seating for comfort of my wife and I asked specifically if we still had first class seats and was told that we did. Satisfied with the answer, I left to return the rental. Upon boarding the plane, we quickly found out that we were going to be seated in coach. When I asked what was going on they told us that there were not enough first class seats in this airplane so what they did was put those left over in coach with no one in between them, and we would get the same first class service. Now, this would have normally been “OK”…things happen. But I have a wife who was 9 months pregnant and I’ll try to be kind – she was 9 months big…we asked for some releif and were told no. So we sit in the coach seats. She can’t pick her feet up, the seat doesn’t recline and when they brought dinner, she could not even get the laptop tray down to support the plate. Now the crying starts….the flight attendant is zero help. She is crying like nuts and my two girls come over to see what is wrong…while this is happening, I notice that my children’s feet are BLUE…I panic and think they have lost oxygen or something, call the attendent, show her the feet and this is what she says..I swear I am not making this up “Oh, the chemical in the toilet overflowed and they must have stepped in it!”…What? Did I just her her say Chemical, Toilet, Stepped in? So I make her call someone to see if there are any issues that we should be aware of because this stuff is not coming off…my kids are now panicing, my wife is crying, we haven’t been able to eat, the movie screen is broken, the toilet is over flowed and its an hour into a 7 hour flight….one service that I found that did work, was the first class beverage service!

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I was swimming in the ocean off the coast of Florida on my Honeymoon. I sand shark ripped my nuts off and my new wife cheated on me with the bartender in our hotel.

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When I was twelve and my brother was eleven, my family didn’t have a lot of money to spare. We didn’t often do family vacations that weren’t tied to visiting relatives (and I only recall us doing that a couple of times). So, my parents decided that we would all tag along to my dad’s national mathematical convention in Denver. Dad was presenting a paper, and the rest of us would sight-see, hang out at the hotel, and do whatever didn’t cost an arm and a leg. We would drive to Denver from Mississippi in our non-spacious and non-speedy AMC Hornet.

For some reason of which I am still unaware, the convention was scheduled in a winter month (I can’t remember exactly–it was either November or January). What I do remember exactly, was that the minute our family drove into Denver, there was a huge blizzard. We got to our hotel, but that was it. I am thinking that our family didn’t stay at the convention hotel either, but had probably selected a lower-price hotel to save money–I think this because at one point our hotel restaurant ran out of food because trucks couldn’t get to them through the snow.

In the meantime, the mathematicians’ convention went on with the show, and not being able to sight-see meant that my brother and I had to either amuse ourselves in our hotel room, or watch the presentations of mathematicians from around the nation. I had no idea what they were talking about, and as this was around 1980-1981, there was no cool PowerPoint or overhead computing technology. A few special effects would have gone a long way.

Because of the weather, my brother and dad caught colds. I remember our last night involved my mom and I eating a spaghetti dinner at a nearby Denny’s (spaghetti was all they had left, but at least they had food).

Luckily, the day after the conference the roads were cleared enough to allow us to pack into the Hornet and head back to Mississippi. If I recall correctly, I think we made it all the way back with only stops for gas and fast food.

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I agree with Ms. Kolassa, why would the AJC want to run a contest based on who can post the winning complaint about vacation? We hear enough negative news why not post about the best or funniest experience that may inspire others? I am sure most have at some time experienced inconveniences and dissapointments during their vacation; since when does minor grievances make AJC worthy press or merit a prize? I also imagine anyone that has survived a natural disaster or terrorist attack while on vacation would have stories to top anything I or most could ever imagine complaining about. This blog is like complaining about spilling your champagne; vacation is a privilege not a necessity. Those of us fortunate enough to go on vacation, may want to celebrate and appreciate them for whatever they are- late planes, lost luggage, snakes, eating at Denny’s, and rooms with less than ideal ocean views included.

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Well we are about to leave from Michigan to California with a group of ladies 6. One of the ladies in the group decides to wave to everyone on the way out of town before we are scheduled to catch the plane an two hours away. We finally round her up and head to the airport. Due to our friends good-byes we are rushing up to our gate only to be turned away and told to catch the next plane at aprox 6 am. We bunk down with our luggage overnight in a uncomfortable airport seating with rollers in our hair. In the AM we catch I flight cause how can you miss it when you have spent the night at the airport? Anyway We board and head land in San Diego where take the metro to retrive our van rental, a lot of ladies and luggage. When we get to the rental car desk we pick out our vehicle and the mature lady of the group whips out her credit card only to have it rejected be cause it had just expired a day before our flight. We are stranded in San Diego so I whip out my Debit card which the ticket agent says must have a balance of 250.00 on it in order to secure the vehicle. I was expecting the direct deposit so I assure the ticket agent. We take the van and load all of our luggage. As we head to Escondido 2 hours from San Diego all traffic is backed up almost to a stand still. We turn on the local news, it is blazing hot and we are exhausted. We find out the reason. A woman is on the freeway in a (stand-Off) with police trying to take her on life! So we wait on the hot freeway till police clear to move and traffic starts moving. We arrive in Escondido a bit late and get to the church retreat campground. We take the van the next day in order to make sure the money is secure on our card. After aproximately the third day and attempt to get a local checking cash place to put money in the account. The Rental car place says our van is now considered stolen and we must return it immediately. The money never reached my account so we have to somehow wire the money into that account. After our week long fiasco back to the airport we return the van and I presume pay for the rental van. We board our plane back to michigan and land take the 2 hr trip home and our car starts wobbling on the side! We stop and realize we have a flat and cars are whipping by we get out to have it changed by an accompanied friend. We since wondered if we were suppose to go on that crazy trip!

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Hey Hal,

When you go on vacation, particularly in Florida, wouldn’t it make sense to check the weather BEFOREHAND? Just in case there’s a hurricane coming?

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AJC,I love the blogs about your worst vacations.It has been a long time since I’ve enjoyed reading this much. This was truely a great idea. Keep up the good work .

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[...] Share your horror stories and win a grand prize. [...]

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December 2008 I went on the Carnival Glory from Port Canaveral, Florida. My drama began before I got to Florida. Plans were to leave at 5am to catch a 7:30am flight to Florida. Packed my clothes and took a cab at 4am to my girlfriends house to get transportation to airport. Put my luggage in the trunk and got into cab for ride to friends house. Arrived, took my bag out of trunk and went upstairs. Me and my girlfriends were talking about what a great time we would have. I went to get lipstick out of my pocketbook and couldn’t find my pocketbook nowhere. I didn’t panic and told my friends that it could be only one of two places. One, at home; two, in the cab. So I remained calm and called the cab company. They said the driver didn’t see my pocketbook in the cab, Still calm I said, “we’ll it must be home and when Carlos comes to pick us up we can go back to get my pocketbook. About ten minutes later I get a call from a young lady that got in the cab after me saying that she had my pocketbook. Good news, but she had been out partying and was intoxicated. I had to get my purse because all my id was in it. I had to have it to board the plane and boat. Panic set in, “oh my God, what if she goes to sleep”. I tried calling her back several times to no avail to find out where she lived. About ten minutes before Carlos was to arrive, I got her on the phone, got directions to her house and retrieved my pocketbook. Remember, always have contact info in your wallet and there are some good people in this world. She didn’t have to call me. Thank God she did, I had a great vacation.

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Most of these stories must be from people who don’t know how to plan for a vacation! How can it take months of planning for a trip to Daytona? Paris, maybe but Daytona! GMAB! I don’t get it! Oh, and always check the weather especially if you are going to travel during hurricane season!

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Mary Jane

Where is your spirit? – If people didnt travel they wouldn’t have these wonderful stories to tell.

Maybe you are one that has to have all your ducks in a row or its not fun at all.

The real fun of a vacation is creating memories – and these stories are those memories that last a lifetime.

Lossen Up Mary Jane

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The worst trip I ever took was my honeymoon! We went to Mexico, where my wife promptly ate or drank something that gave her da runs for the entire week. Both times I have touched her in the 23 years since I can’t help but think of that trip.

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[...] writer: Would I use high speed trains? “I’m thinking the answer would be no.” Not unless they were cheap and “seriously fast.” (Atlanta Journal [...]

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Don’t think I’m not watching the complaining ^ there. I’ve had a Georgia judge look me in the face and ask me exactly how old I was. I never forgot that either. Some folks just haven’t been around long enough to find out some things, and this is as good a place as any to learn.

It’s also one of the best places to learn: In the context of the story. True stories. So in all humbleness, STFU, (shut up) and listen to what people have to say. It’s a simple thing about learning how to avoid bad situations on a vacation really. We’re enjoying the growing pains of others, as in Misery loves company.

My sincerest apologies, for the interruption.

Do tell your story. BTW did you know the angle of a 2X4 across the back is the difference between the breaking of the back or the board? AKA, I’d like to relax here and learn some interesting stuff. A lot of It I know, some is new to me. On with the stories, I like them.

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My husband and I got “buddy passes” on an airline from a relative. We planned a trip to Hawaii, even paying a few hundred dollars down on a nice place to stay there. We flew uneventfully from Atlanta to Dallas on the first leg of the trip. Then the disaster started! Just before boarding the flight to Honolulu a group of about 40 passengers showed up at the gate. Their flight on another airline had been cancelled so they were booked on our flight. Since we were using buddy passes we were bumped from the flight. After spending all day in the airport we made it on a flight to LA, hoping to get on a flight to Honolulu the next day. After spending all the next day at LAX we decided we’d never get there, much less get home on time. We booked a flight back home and went to Callaway Gardens instead. We still have never been to Hawaii! Total $$ for our non-vacation:
$300+ for the buddy passes
$90+ cheap hotel near LAX
$300+ deposit on accommodations in Hawaii we never used
$50+ for calls to the relative to see about available flights (this was in 1999 before we had cellphones)
Ouch!

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I’m laughing out loud at some of these stories. (But writers, keep it simple and short!) I agree with SayWhat — these stories are FUN and won’t affect someone’s decision about whether to go on a trip. Sheesh.

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When my daughter was six months old we flew from Phoenix to Memphis to spend a week with my dad who was marrying my now step-mother. My sister and her fiance’ were also on the flight. My daughter, being six months old, was starting to get her first teeth. As parents know, sometimes fever and diarea will accompany this. The day we were leaving my daughter’s fever was down and she seemed to be feeling fine. Shortly after takeoff, they served us breakfast. Not sixty seconds later my daughter proceded to projectile vomit all over my future brother in-law and his breakfast. I reach in the diaper bag only to realize that while I had thrown in plenty of diapers, I forgot a change of clothes. I go into the TINY airplane bathroom to clean up my daughter, change her diaper and since I have no clothes I wrapped her in my sisters down coat. (It’s the end of November, by the way. Not too warm!) We get to Dallas to change flights. On the train to our gate I am cradling her in my arms and everyone in saying, “Ahhhh! What a precious baby.” Not seconds later, as I am looking down lovingly at my child, her mouth opens and she smacks me in the face with vomit! At this point my sister and her fiance’ are very frustrated with me because, here again, I didn’t pack any clothes for her in her diaper bag and my sister’s down coat is getting covered in vomit. We board our connecting flight to Memphis and are on the home stretch and all the sudden I hear what sounds like not-so-solid poop coming from my sick child. Needless to say, it came out the top and the sides of her diaper and is now all inside my sisters down coat (the only thing I have to put her in)!!!! I once again head to the TINY plane bathroom to clean up, not only my daughter, but the now-poopy coat. While in the bathroom, I look in the mirror to see that when she projectiled on my face it made the mascara run. I intintively lick my finger to wipe it when I taste something extremely bitter. I then realize that I have diarea on my hands. At this point I begin to ball my eyes out!! Thank goodness my daughter was now feeling much better. As we exit the gate to meet my dad, I hand him his filthy granddaughter wrapped in a stinky down coat that I had cleaned the best I could with what I had. My sister and her fiance’ were now not speaking to me! My dad was married the next day and I stayed home with my teething daughter while everyone went out and celebrated. I probably should have just stayed home!

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My husband retired from the Navy in San Diego, CA, and we decided to take a “family vacation” crossing the country back to our home in Georgia. We were in 2 separate vehicles; my husband was driving our Suburban and pulling our 27ft travel trailer, and I was driving a 37ft “fixer upper” RV which we’d bought from friends. Our travel party consisted of my husband, our sons (13 & 8 at the time) our daughters (12 and 3 at the time) and I. We struck out from San Diego on Memorial Day, 2004. We got as far as the lava fields in the desert near Barstow, CA when the RV began to handle poorly and make odd noises. The kids were all in the back playing games, and OF COURSE, no one had on a seatbelt (lesson learned!). As it began to handle poorly, I screamed for all of them to get buckled and hang on! Thankfully, we did not crash as I feared, but the RV suddenly lost all power and I had to drift over to the side of the road. My husband pulled over on the side of the road just ahead of me w/the Suburban & trailer. We exited the RV, looked underneath, and found that the drive shaft had broken completely IN TWO!!!!! It was 113 degrees in the desert. There were no rest stops near, so we had to abandon the RV in search of civilization. We found a restaurant a few miles up the road and used our cell phone to call a wrecker for the RV. We met him there, and he hauled it to a repair shop (at a cost of about $250). The guys at the repair shop took a look at it and told us it would cost $2,500 to repair, and the part would not arrive for 2 weeks! As we were BURNING UP from the heat and all the kids were cranky, we made an instant decision to sign the RV over to the shop and leave it there forever! We all loaded into the Suburban and proceeded to the nearest K.O.A. for the night. When we arrived there and went into the travel trailer, we were met be the FOULEST odor! In the melee of getting the vehicles off the road when the drive shaft broke on the RV, my husband had run over a small road sign and it had pierced the black water tank in the trailer!!! The floor was splintered right beside the bunks where our boys slept. Of course, no one could repair it that night, nor for the duration of our trip. We had to beat it down as best we could with a mallet, and cover it with duct tape. The trailer’s bathroom & shower were out of service for the duration of the trip, so we had to rely on bathhouses for personal hygeine and other uses until we got home! We finally arrived home 6 days after leaving San Diego…exhausted and completely broke!!! No more “fixer upper” RV’s for us!!!

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After a beautiful fall evening wedding at the end of September in 1995, my new husband and I left in our motor home for an eight day trip along the Gulf Coast. We spent three absolutely gorgeous days at Panama City Beach and then headed west, with our ultimate destination being New Orleans. At the time Hurricane Opal was forming in the Gulf. The nice weather was holding though so we continued on our way stopping in Biloxi to visit the casino. After holding our own with the slot machines and having a wonderful dinner, we walked out the door into a torrential downpour. We got back to our motor home, dried off and turned on the TV to find out what was going on with the weather. The weatherman announced that Hurricane Opal was closer to the coast but actual landfall was still unknown. It could be anywhere between New Orleans and Fort Walton Beach. We went to bed with the plan that we would make our decision on what to do next in the morning. During the night the winds became much stronger and blew the rain into our air conditioning vents, ultimately soaking our bed and the benches in the kitchen area. We decided then to turn around, go back to Mobile and head north hoping to spend the last few days of our honeymoon in a drier area. Needless to say , when we arrived in Mobile, officials had decided to evacuate as many people as possible away from the storms fury. We ended up in bumper to bumper traffic for nearly eight hours just trying to get to Montgomery. We finally reached Montgomery were we decided just to go home to Lilburn. The rest of the story is history. Hurricane Opal followed us all the way home and New Orleans escaped her destruction. If we had gone on to New Orleans as planned, we would have been just fine.

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what a disaster
a vacation from hell
a great time for family bonding
better u than me

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Good lord.

My vain attempts at reading some of this nonsense have reminded me of a longstanding wish of mine: that people were doomed to speak the same way they write. If they were, I’m convinced that over half the population would sound like they had Down Syndrome.

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pretty good story.but when the snake hissed it kind of scared the f****** hell out of me

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I loved reading the stories. Granted some of them were difficult to understand but I enjoyed reading about everyone’s adventures. Thank you AJC.

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Rats: Welcome to the islands! Exotic, yes?
Rain: “Bull Durham”: “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you get rained out…”
Snakes: Copperheads don’t take care of their young like mammals and they certainly don’t hunt people.

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Next time try St. John Unites States Virgin Islands

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Snake….This story is hilarious!! I can definitely visualize the dad standing on the bed! I thought this kind of stuff only happened to me and my family!!

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You have my vote!

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Very disappointed at the fact that the baby cooperhead was killed…that was not necessary.

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OMG REMINDS ME OF THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF…. WELL MELISSA I GUESS
YOU WILL THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU HOLLA ABOUT WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU
DID NOT SEE!!!!! TOOO FUNNY COPPERHEAD GOOD ONE I HOPE THIS WIN SOUNDS
LIKE YOU CAN USE A NEW SNAKECATION OPPS I MEAN VACATION LOOOL

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I too am a Georgia native and I can’t stand the heat! We are headed to Maine on Saturday for a week. Temps there in the low to mid 70’s!

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“Oh those poor people!” and I am not even from New Orleans…

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I was on the Parkway last weekend too. 12:30pm last Sunday on Linville Viaduct 70 degrees – got back to Atlanta and it was in the 90s at night.

Highlands is only 2 hours away and at least 10 degrees cooler. Also suggest hitting the Parkway around the Waynesville area. It is maybe 2.5 hours away and you get above 5,000 feet wonderfully cool compared to Hotlanta.

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I was there that same week! No warning – just torrential rain, road closures, more rain. Have been there for a hurricane – the rains for this were worse because it lasted so-o-o-o long.

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It’ called Hotlanta for a reason y’all. Especially my fellow natives! How many years have we been complaining about it? For me it gets worse the older I get. I’m into flowing water & falls-any recommendations?

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Went to Wilderness At The Smokies and loved it! Already planning a return trip next month. They had everything you could ask for; indoor water park, 2 outdoor water parks, restaurants, arcades and they are close to the Tanger Outlets shopping mail – my favorite shopping place!

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[...] What is the grand prize! [...]

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[...] This week’s topic: We want your romantic vacation stories! [...]

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i should have sent it to mo

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The story that won was good but I can top it – week long trip to Cozumel in 2001 at a 5 diamond dive resort. Two days before I left, I tripped over an umbrella getting out of the car and bashed my knee cap falling on to the asphalt parking lot, the next day my aunt died from cancer. Then arriving in Cozumel our room wasn’t ready but if we would pay more, the room would be ready – no thanks so we were taken to a room that had a 6 inch gap all the way around the set-in A/C unit and a lizard had just darted inside. I refused the room so after some rolling of eyes, stomping of my size 7.5 sandals and all my best spanish cuss words, we were moved to a casita on the other side of the property – a small studio like unit. And it was a gorgeous property right on the beach, highly recommended. To make a long story short here is the list of incidents in order during our stay – near miss with a large spider as I stepped into the shower, I fell off the step to the sunken living room and bashed same injured knee into stone coffee table, stung by sea wasps, feel asleep in a lounge chair at the pool and stung by ants, pushed off a catamaran before I was ready w my dive mask and took in a mouth/nose full of sea water, my 13 yr old son got montezuma’s revenge from the one thing I didn’t think of – lettuce on his club sandwich from room service, lost my balance while wading in the beach and fell onto a sea urchin which left several quills in my left hand which feels like shards of glass – the pain is excruciating and then the panic not knowing if the quills are poisonous, crashed into a tree by my horse which again re-bashed my already repeatedly injured knee to the point the taxi driver didn’t want me in his cab to return me to the hotel bc of the blood running down my leg and that same night with my good knee almost walked right into a tarantula crawling on a half wall walkway to our casita (missed him by inches) and finally, the resort misplaced our airline tickets/itinerary leaving us no way to return home. It took over 45 min of panic, spanish cuss words, and all the eye rolling I could muster for them to locate our documents. But despite everything, it was a gorgeous location and a great vacation!

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Veronica – I think the difference is the winner won because all of her things were unavoidable and believable and not exagerrated. In your case, “near misses” with bugs and ant bites and you own loss of balance many times, including loss of tickets might qualify you as clumsy and unorganized. Sounds like most of the things that happened to you were your own fault. I don’t think “5-star” places have the issues your hotel had. Nice story though.

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Interesting story – too bad because St Maarten is actually a lovely place to visit. Next time, go to the French side, take the ferry and visit Anguilla.

I had a similar experience: I was on a small cruise ship and went on deck at midnight to watch the ship sail when a handsome young Italian officer approached and started talking to me. All of a sudden I felt excruiating pain and burning in my right eye. I started screaming and running for the nearest ladies room (difficult enough to find on a ship with two good eyes!)desperate for a mirror to get the “thing” out of my eye. When I burst into the ladies room, there were a bunch of older ladies there and all were shocked to see a sobbing girl with a ship’s officer in hot pursuit run into ladies room! Imagine what they thought…….

Anyway, I could not even open the eye and was escorted to my cabin where my sister, who had already gone to bed, pried open my eye and took her fingernail and scraped a huge piece of tar from the inside of my upper lid. Apparently the hot tar blew into my eye when the smokestack was sounded.

The next morning I couldn’t open my eye and visited the ship’s doctor who proceeded to tell me that there was nothing in my eye but eyelashes, apparently prepared to deny injury in case of a law suit. I had a scratched cornea and had to wear dark glasses night and day and could not submerge my head at all(lot’s of fun in the Carribbean). So I ended my week without swimming, snorkeling, with a blood-red eye nearly swollen shut and becoming the talk of both the dowagers and the ship’s crew. Fun times.

Then there is the time I was robbed at machete point in Jamaica or the time we were witness to a serious head-on collision between tourists and locals in a remote and deserted road near West End on Grand Bahama Island. Fortunately I was not injured in Jamaica though I cannot recommend visiting jails in third world countries (or EVER visiting Jamaica). And fortunately the guy driving our car on Grand Bahama had a pocket knife and the forethought to cut out a seat belt and was able to make a tourniquet for the cab driver who had a damaged artery in his left leg. Almost forgot about the taptap buses in Haiti and Baby Doc’s minions who tried to rob my sister and I in Port Au Prince. I could go on and on – makes me wonder why I ever travel.

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Nice story. The picture, however, is from Key West during hurricane Rita.

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What happens if you never meet Mr. Right! I have done everything right. I have worked hard, taken care of my children, been support of my family. But then one day I realize that the kids are older and I home alone. No one to talk to, share my dreams with, or play footsies with for that matter. Where are all the Mr. Rights. Is there truly sucha a thing. But for those of you who have found that long lasting happiness, I am truly happy for you. For me, I will continue to search within myself, ask god for comfort and companion and most of all live life to the fullest.

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Cinnamon hang in there. Love arrives in the most unexpected ways you just need to be receptive. You also have to make yourself available and more sociable.

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My story has the attributes of family, a bit or horror and romance at the same time. After 38 years of old maid-hood, I met the man of my dreams. I was not looking, it just happened. Here is my story.

My father had recently married a bimbo and he wanted me to meet my new “grandparents”. (My dad got along with them because they all were the same age.) It was a scorching July day when Dad, the bimbo, my boyfriend and I started up the interstate in Dad’s brand new motor home. The bimbo had picked it out so of course, it had all of the bells and whistles.

After many miles, my boyfriend told me that he was not feeling well and went into the bathroom. That is when we discovered that there was something horribly wrong with the plumbing.

The smell that filled vehicle was deadly. The bimbo and I kept looking at each other, finally breaking into hysterical laughter. We opened every window as quickly as possible. The result was sort of an internal tornado with anything not tied down, blowing around in the foul smelling, now blistering hot air.

My father reacted to the smell and the flying debris by trying to outrun it. The worse the smell got, the faster he drove. Pretty soon, we were flying. He passed everyone and everything. You know how they tell you to vary your speed when breaking in a new vehicle. Well that went out the window (while the smell did not). He had the pedal to the metal and was not letting up.

My boyfriend finally came out of the bathroom, looking sort of green. When he realized what he had caused, he played the “I am sick” card (which was really the “I am embarrassed” card) and went to the bedroom to lie down.

Shortly afterward, he called me to the back. There, he took my hand and asked me to marry him. That was almost 15 years ago and we have been happily married for over 14 years now. Dad and the bimbo did not fare as well. She has gone back to bimbo-land which made everyone happy.

So, while most women can paint a pretty picture of the story of how they got engaged, the one I can relate has mini-tornados, noxious odors and my dad driving up the interstate like a bat out of hell.

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January of 2008 I had decided that I wanted to go to vacation with my boyfriend. After looking around for some deals online, I suggested that we go to Vegas. We started looking into it, and the next day he asked if we could rent a car and make the 3 almost 4 hour drive to Zion National Park, Utah for a few days after Vegas. Obviously, I said yes to that. After two nights in Vegas, we headed over to Utah for three.

Now, before we left for this trip, I walked into my livingroom and caught him looking at Facebook and saving a number into his cell phone. I immediately started making accusations, and he assured me that he had some surprise waiting for me, and that the plans would be finalized on Monday and e would tell me. Okay, so I let it go.

Fast forwards to Monday, we wake up and head over to Zion National Park, where he had planned for us to make the trek up to Angel’s landing. At first we had planned on eating breakfast at the park’s lodge, but we got there to late. Instead, we went up the trail to the Emerald Pools (i think that’s what is was called) and ate lunch afterwards.

Blistering hot and semi-exhausted, he said that we should still try to make the trek up, and since he was talking on and on about this trail for the last two months, I said sure. After a while of attempting to beat the heat, I told him that I could not go any further. I began to cry because he had really been wanting to do this, and here I was telling him it was a no go.

I was really upset and he told me it was okay. He reminded me about the surprise he had waiting for me and asked me to turn around. He got on one knee and asked me to marry him right there on the side of the mountain.

Needless to say, I’m very happy!

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In 2004, I was studying abroad in Quebec City. As a French major, I was there for 6 weeks for a language-intensive course at Laval University. My 21st birthday happened to fall during this six-week summer trip. As a surprise, my boyfriend, John, came to visit me for a weekend. He came to visit and sightsee but also to celebrate my birthday.

Saturday morning we got up to see all of the sites in Quebec City. We had fun taking in the sights together. Before he left Atlanta, he had made reservations for dinner at the Chateau Frontenac, a historic hotel over looking the St. Lawrence River. As we were leaving the hotel to make our way to dinner, he handed me my birthday present to hold. It was a little smaller than a shirt box. I must say I was a little disappointed…. We had been dating for about a year and a half, and were talking about marriage. I had hoped that the proposal would happen this weekend…How perfect! However, he quickly assured me the first night he arrived that was not going to happen, as he was planning a holiday proposal.

So, we were off to dinner in his rental car. He quickly became nervous that we were going to miss our reservation because of traffic. I told him it would be no big deal and we could just eat wherever. That, he would not accept. We made it just in time and we were seated at a beautiful table overlooking a statue of Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec as well as the St. Lawrence River. How perfect! The waiter brought us our menus and as soon as he left, John insisted that I open my gift. He said he didn’t want to wait until dessert. So, I opened the card, which was really sweet. I open the box to find Wedding Wishes tissue paper. I remarked that it was a cruel joke, and he didn’t even notice it…he just said “it matched perfectly.” When I removed the tissue paper, I saw a beautiful picture frame with a picture of him on one knee holding a ring box. Written on the glass in silver marker was “Seras-tu ma femme?” which means “Will you be my wife?” I was so stunned that I couldn’t speak. He walked around the table to my chair and got down on one knee, with the ring, and said, “Lindsey, will you be my wife?” The best part was that he was so nervous, he had to tilt his head to the side and take a deep breath to get the words out. I quickly said Yes! The ring was beautiful and we had a wonderful, romantic dinner to celebrate.

I will never forget that day as long as I live.

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It was an unexpected storm. I weathered it with my family in Brunswick. Florida and surrounding areas were saturated…what a vacation!

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My most romatic trip was when my now husband and I got engaged in 2001.

I had qualified for the USA Long Course Triathlon World Team and the ironman race was in Denmark. The Tuesday before the race I said a tearful goodby to my now husband. I was so sad to be leaving him. My friends, who were competing also, and I arrived in Denmark and went about our business of getting ready to race. We came back from a swim workout and my friend called and told me to come down to his room and bring my bag. He said he left something in it. I was totally confused since I knew he hadn’t, but said I’d be down as soon as I got dressed and was ready for our team dinner.

I arrived at my friends room and knocked on the door. When I opened it my friends were smiling and my now husband was behind the door. He flew to Denmark to surprise me and I was happily shocked.

The race took place a few days later and I was happy to have him there as support. It was wonderful to see his face at the finish line.

The next day we had plans to go to Copenhagen. We took the train to the city, had lunch, and started to tour around. We saw a church and he wanted to go inside so we did. I didn’t mind the rest since my legs were tired from the race. We sat there for a bit and I was kind of ready to go, but he seemed to be stalling. Finally I knew why…he got down on one knee and proposed.

I then found out that my friends who were in Denmark with me, and all of my friends and family back home, knew he was coming to Denmark to ask me to marry him.

Our flight schedules were different so we didn’t get to fly home together, but it sure was nice coming home engaged to the man I wanted to marry.

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When we first got engaged I was 19 and in college and my future husband had recently graduated and was on active duty with the Army. He wanted to get me a diamond engagement ring at the PX since they were less expensive there. I told him that I had several diamond rings that I had inherited and to save his money and buy me an emerald when he could afford it. Fast forward 25 years. Our younger son was 8 years old and Mardi Gras coincided with our anniversary that year. We had some time off because of the holiday and decided to take our travel trailer and spend a week at Disney World. Hardly a romantic getaway! On the evening of our anniversary, we left our son at the Mickey Mouse Club and had a lovely dinner at Flaglers Restaurant in one of the nicest Disney World hotels. During dessert my husband gave me a gorgeous emerald and diamond ring. He remembered after 25 years that I wanted an emerald! I have worn that ring every day for nearly 20 years now.

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[...] Which author should win this week? Check out the prize! [...]

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The couple highlighted in “We Met At A Hostel In Rome” is like something in a romantic movie. Straight out of the fairytale books. I’m going to Europe soon and I can only hope to be as lucky!!!

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How much more romantic can you get????

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You two were definitely meant to be together… you make a wonderful couple. Love you both!

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Lindsey Evan’s story is definitely the most romantic! Thanks for sharing Lindsey.

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Good story

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I love true stories like this one!! They were meant to be together!

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True love comes to us rarely in life. Isn’t it wonderful that it happened to the two you in Rome. How romantic.

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Love your story! Wishing you many more years of happiness!

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Thank you all SO much for your comments! We obviously love our story, but we are a bit biased! It is incredible that it touches and means something to others, too. Thanks again.

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Airplanes are certified for a maximum number of passengers due to safety reasons. You have to be able to get everyone out in a short time through the emergency exits. Therefore, you cannot ‘cram’ 50% more passengers on an aircraft. Even though it might be technically possible, this would be a safety and regulatory nightmare.

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Sooo sweet and very romantic!!!!

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Tex – studying abroad simply means studying in a different country. You do not have to be overseas. So, if a student lives in the U.S., then studying in Quebec would most definitely be studying abroad.

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Definately will not go to Vilamoura anymore, 6 Hour rounds of Golf and 4.5 Euros for a beer , we will stay clear of the Vilamoura golf courses this year, and the so called free shuttle bus turns up if you are lucky.

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Not yet, but I’m planning a trip with three friends from high school, and we are hitting Vegas in March for 5 days.

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A sort of different vacation. Flew into Louisville, KY and drove 30 miles to visit friends in Scottsburg, IN. Fun time on their pond with the geese teaching their babies how to fly and music of the locals at the South Boston Opera on Friday nights. Then to Churchill Downs for the races, (Forget the order of things now), Bowling Green to the Corvet museum, Jim Bean Distillery, Lincoln’s birth place, Jack Daniels Distillery in KY, Nashville and the Grand Ole Opery and Jackson’s home and then the Space and Rocet Museum in Alabama. On to Orange Beach and hot 95 – 100 degree heat with humidity at 80-85 for a family reunion. Will take Boise any time with its dry heat. Besides, I’m Basque!!

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Hahaha! Nobody’s talking! Guess they’re not ready to ‘fess up yet! LOL! I don’t have a story, just a word of advice….. NEVER eat sushi downtown Las Vegas. The strip is okay, ‘tho.

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I have taken two trips to Vegas. The first one was years ago with one of my best friends when I turned 30! We had flown to Pheonix to begin our journey seeing all the sights. The only night we did not have booked was our night in Vegas. We thought rooms would be plentiful. WRONG! We ended up staying at the Stardust. It was okay but nothing like what they have now. The next morning was Sunday and I was amazed that people were actually gambling on a SUNDAY!! What had happened to our world! We lost money and I still blame it on the fact that we were gambling on a Sunday! My next trip was recently with my family for a short stay before taking my parents to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. We were able to get a great deal at the Venetian!!!! WOW! We were “styling” on this trip. We manage to stay inside most of time time until my wonderful little neices heard about the rides at Circus Circus. So the next day we decided to walk. My sister had rented a car but the rest of us thought we’d be troopers and walk. As we walked down the street each one of us was getting hotter and hotter. Of course it was 115 degree outside!!!! As family members started droping like flies my sister would pick them up and continue to Circus Circus with them in tow. My brother-in-law and I were the only ones that walked the entire way! People kept saying “but its a dry heat”! So what! My oven is dry too but its still hot!!!!!!!!!!!

We never left the Venetian again!

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If you can fully remember all of the details of an outrageous story from Vegas, then it didn’t happen (Kind of like the old saying about Woodstock, “if you remember it, you weren’t there.).

My trip back in March was probably my craziest Vegas trip to date. Was out there to hang out with some friends from Alberta and there were definitely some crazy moments. We were all being so loud, drunk and obnoxious at a steakhouse that they seat our group by ourselves in one of the dining rooms (The limo ride to and from this casino was so crazy that my sides hurt from laughing so much.) Another highlight was one of our guys getting his picture taken on Fremont Street with a guy holding a religious sign about the perils of Las Vegas; made even more funny by the fact that our guy was holding a drink in one hand at the time.

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well…went to Vegas with my girlfriends back in ‘05…left wondering why they called it Sin City, cause we didn’t see it….went back this year for my 35th bday with just 1 girlfriend, and now I know why!!!! We are still remembering bits and pieces of the trip and I will never tell what I am having flashbacks of, but i do remember an hour of Saki bombs in the Japanese restaraunt at MGM….loud and crazy fun with complete strangers!!!

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In addition to my email comment about Vegas is the kicker , My wife was 6 months pregnant so the alcohol factor into our trip made the story unique if you have ever been through the Casinos. Men know about the cards after dark. Crazy !! but I love it !!

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[...] The most romantic travel story for my husband and I happened, in fact, before we were even husband and wife! I was 20, having just studied abroad in Paris, and was traveling with a friend around Europe. My husband had just graduated from college and was also doing the grand European tour with a friend. I was from Connecticut and went to school in Boston. He was from Baltimore and was starting school at Emory in the fall. Needless to say, our paths never would have crossed in the U.S. Read on [...]

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This is a finalist? Seriously? I’m glad I didn’t bother to send in a submission, because it certainly wouldn’t have had enough exclamation points to make the cut.

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These stories are pitiful – none of them should win! I agree – cancel the contest!

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What happened to …..what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? These tales should really stay in Las Vegas….I agree…no one should win.

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Halarious!

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Don’t forget the upper panhandle of ID. A world away from Boise and Southern ID climate-wise. More Pacific moisture, smaller, greener mtns (reminds you of Western NC). Went to school in Moscow (UI) while at UGA. Loved it up there and explored every chance I got. Sandpoint area is a must-see.

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These were the finalists? My goodness…Not only were they not funny, entertaining or amusing, but they were poorly written. Had I known getting to the finals would be this easy, I would have made up something!

~sigh~

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Why all the hatin’ people? Sour grapes? Why? Let’s think for a minute…..soldiers dying in Iraq and elsewhere, house foreclosures, job losses, any personal health tragedy one can be struck down with…..OK, so 3 people decided they might brighten their day or someone else’s. They didn’t claim to be Truman Capote or Ernest Hemingway or even Candace Bushnell (Sex & The City author) or Jim Carrey……just everyday people who retreated out of the real world for just a moment to recall a frivilous moment in their lives. So what? All the “haters” should just appreciate what’s around them……albeit mundane to them. And next time, Stephanie, why don’t you submit an entry? P.S. The writers were told to “keep it very clean.” Obviously, the AJC would not have printed otherwise. Common sense here.

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These were really bad stories. There was nothing here to make these people win anything.

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BORING!

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BORING!

If’d you’d actually given in to him, that would’ve probably made the story better.

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Please tell Inez that the Jack Daniels Distillery is in Tennessee, not Kentucky.

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[...] I have taken two memorable trips to Vegas. The first one was years ago, with one of my best friends when I turned 30! … My next trip was recently with my family for a short stay before taking my parents to see the Grand Canyon. Read on [...]

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Well said JB. I can’t believe all these negative and RUDE comments! Obviously none of you submitted so quit complaining and wait for the next contest. I’m glad my mom’s about to win a FREE trip to Florida for taking 5 minutes out of her day to tell a funny story as opposed to taking 5 minutes to tell someone how lame their writing is.

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A better answer to the ‘are you twins’ question would be ‘no, do we look alike?’

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Not one of these stories is worth printing! Get some stories that have some substance and humor to them. These are just awful.

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This story was horrible. It means nothing and nothing happened.

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Stupid contest, but I don’t blame the entrants. I’ve got way better stories about Vegas, but there’s no way they could get printed (even if I wanted people to know).

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Just got back from Maine 3 weeks ago. First time in New England. The coast there is also rocky, very different from Southern beaches. We loved it. The rocks and cliffs were so beautiful! We would go back again in a heartbeat.

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This isn’t real. They could care less what you do with comped tickets.

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Wow, really, all these are really stupid, but this one was the worst. Yeah it is hot in Vegas, DUH

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One time I went to Vegas and I took a poop in the batroom at The Mirage. AJC, what prize do I win for my awesome story?

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That story is a bald faced lie. I don’t believe the person telling the story has ever been to Las Vegas.

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Seriously these people have lost the art of stroy telling..I cant beleive these silly stories make it to the final!!

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AWESOME !!! Never heard a stroy like this before…Do they really know what they are writing??

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When my husband and I were dating it seemed like all of our trips seemed to center around cars – Sebring, Petit Le Mans, etc. and involved camping. Like outside in a tent camping – of which I had never done before I met him. So I asked if the next vacation we took could be one that didn’t involve cars (even though I’m an auto enthusiast also) and that I could sleep on a nice cushy bed and not on a sleeping bag outside. He said sure and that he’d plan it. He checked with me to make sure that my schedule at work was open over the weekend of February 1st/2nd. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going, but didn’t mind if I’d ask questions. “Is it near an ocean?” “Is it near a racetrack?” “Have I been there before?” and all of these were answered ‘yes.’ We happened to be watching Food Network one night and he said “How hard do you think it would be to get reservations at Paula Deen’s restaurant on a Friday night?” and I said “We’re going to Savannah, aren’t we????” He said “um, no, why would you think that? no more questions…” :p So, vacation time rolls around and we’re at the airport and he hands me my boarding pass…to Savannah! He couldn’t believe I guessed it. We flew into Savannah and picked up the rental and headed to the Dresser Palmer House – beautiful house and wonderful service there. The room was just crazy romantic – giant four-poster bed that had a small set of stairs that you had to climb to get into it, beautiful verandah, just gorgeous. I was laying on the bed and Luke was digging around through his luggage and he said ‘well, want to know the itinerary?’ “Sure!” ‘We’ll get up tomorrow and go to Tybee Island to see the sunrise, then come back and have breakfast, pack our luggage and then we have to leave.’ “WHAT? We just got here???” ‘Well, we’ll be heading back to the airport because we’re going to fly to San Diego to watch the sunset. You okay with that?’ “HOLY CRAP!” (not the most ladylike thing to say, I know) “YES! Wow, San Diego???” ‘Oh yeah, I have a surprise – shut your eyes.’ He walked over to the bed and sat me up. As soon as he grabbed my left hand I knew what was going to happen….he proposed. After much hugging and smooching on my part, he grabbed my shoulders and asked ’so, is that a yes?’ He was going to propose at Tybee the next morning but couldn’t wait. We flew to San Diego the next afternoon – watched the sunset on the Pacific after watching it rise on the Atlanta. Spent the night and morning in SD and headed back home (after a nice surprise upgrade to first class by Delta!) on Sunday. We married at the Dresser Palmer House last August 30th and are approaching our first year anniversry. Perfect trip – perfect wedding – happy marriage.

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[...] This week’s topic: We want your Summer Camp stories! [...]

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I attended a Salvation Army camp in Upstate New York for 9 summers. The camp sessions only lasted 1 week, but once I was old enough, I worked at camp for the whole summer. I spent 7 summers working at summer camp.

The camp I attended was a traditional camp with space for about 150 campers. One set of cabins had a community shower and restrooms. Those cabins were usually assigned to boys. The other two sets of cabins had bathrooms and showers inside. It is located on one of the finger lakes and we could take our campers out on a pontoon boat or canoeing. Canoeing was always fun, but it seems that every day one summer I had to swim out after a canoe that went too far or the campers lost their oars. The camp had a pool, the undertow of the lake made it too dangerous for a dedicated swimming area. That allowed for cabins that won special awards to go “night swimming.” Of course we had campfires and I still remember the dozens of camp songs I learned over 25 years ago when I was a camper. Those songs are still sung today. Our camp has a Facebook group page with hundreds of members, there are people on there that I haven’t seen in 15 years, but we still message back and forth. I’ve told many people, camp is much more fun for the staff than the campers. We had a night watch set up so that three of the nine counselors in a cabin group had duty and the other six were off. We were allowed off property to go to town as long as we were back by curfew. We would go to town and play “Fire Drill” with multiple cars, visit the local cemetery and scare ourselves silly or just cruise the back roads. Staff trips on our days off included Niagara Falls, Boston and Maine. One of my friends met his wife at camp and even though they are both from England, they had their wedding at camp! Another friend just had her kids come back from the same camp we went to as kids and even though camp has changed over the years, they loved it! Just as we did when we were campers and staff.

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A Little Piece of Heaven
Kid Heaven is definitely an accurate description of my summer camp experience! In fact, one of the songs that is sung each Friday night at closing ceremonies says “a little piece of heaven there nestled in the pines, it’s a home away from home to me.” I met the man of my dreams, who happened to be named Kelly as well, at Camp High Harbour on Lake Burton. Now we share the same first and last name.

I started going to camp the summer after 4th grade. It was incredible – 2 weeks of watersports, running around in the woods, playing games like Capture the Counselor, camping out, making friends, and learning about God. It is defintely the place where kids can just be kids. I loved it, and kept going to camp there until I was old enough to be a counselor and then a program director. In all I spent 11 summers of my life there and finally had to give it up when I was 21 to get a “real job.”

The most important thing I got from camp would have to be my husband! We had know each other and worked together for years, but we started dating the summer after my sophomore year of college at UGA. He had just graduated that semester from UGA as well and was off to start his career, but not before one last hoorah at camp! He already had a job lined up for the Fall, so he had it made. He started the summer off with some pick up line about us having the same name if we got married… who knew! We dated for 3 years until he pulled off a proposal on the waterfront at where else but camp. We were married in November of 2006, and we just had our first child, a sweet baby boy, 6 weeks ago today.
We are both actually still involved with the camp. My husband is on the board for the organizatinon and won their Volunteer of the year of the award for 2008. We tell everyone we know about this place and our children will definitely be going there. It is incredible how much kids love this place and how they are dying to go back year after year. The counselors are trained so well and have such a passion for fun and serving the kids. The whole experience teaches kids so many important things – everything from how to have fun and be crazy to having confidence in yourself and learning about God. I know that both my husband and I attribute a lot of who we are to camp because of all that we learned and experienced there. I am so thankful that I was able to talk my parents into sending me there all those years ago!

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In the year leading up to my first time at camp as a scout, the troop worked to sell items to be able to afford the 2 weeks. We were all about 12 years old and some of us had never been away for a day, so 2 weeks was going to be an Adventure.

I selected 2 weeks in the middle of the entire summer, which meant that girls going there for longer stays would have formed friendships and tent mates.

I remember the meeting at the firehouse for drop off, getting on to the bus and riding it to up-state New York somewhere, having to walk, over a bridge, down a long trial, past the pit toilets and all the tents on platforms dragging my gear. We spent meals in the main canteen, rotating tasks daily of table setup, clean up and dishes, there was not getting out of your responsibilities. Camp fires and swimming in a lake.

On one group hike, we carried our sleeping bags and some other gear, needed for an easy sleepover at the lean to, about a mile or so up the trail. As we started out, the counselors were not sure of the trail blazes to follow and the group got split up. Soon we came to the shelter, but it was already occupied by other hikers. Meanwhile it started to rain and while waiting for the rains to let up, a fire was started in the fireplace. As the rock heated up a big black snake that was resting on the chimney rocks soon felt the warmth of the fire and dropped off right onto the shoulders of one of the counselors who scream and danced about in an attempt to get the snake off her. It was quickly decided that we could not stay there with the other hikers or the snake, so it was back on the trails; soon we were hopelessly lost and just walking about. As dusk started to set in, we came to an opening that had a few yellow buses parked. It happened to be another camp. We were told to board the buses and wait. Some of the seat cushions were missing and we had to rest on the metal frames or against the wall until our camp was notified and the buses were sent for us. Wet and tired some of use slept. The bus arrived what seemed like hours later along with a few counselors and their cars. As we divided up into groups and got into the bus and cars, we thought the adventure was over, but for some it was just beginning. As two of the car get into an accident and several of the campers spent the night at hospital. After that we were not allowed on any other group activities that meant the counselors taking us out of camp, the rest of the time left was devoted to letters to home, crafts and swimming in a Safe area pen.

To say the least, I never when back to that camp or another.

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Kelly O….of course you had to be one of the first to comment on here. Hope your baby is doing well. I’ll have to make my way over to visit sometime. Miss you guys!

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I went to Camp Illahee for girls in beautiful Brevard, North Carolina for several wonderful summers. Every spring, I would spend hours poring over the camp brochure, carefully selecting which courses I would be enjoying during my three weeks in North Carolina. Seventh grade year, I was bored by the prospect of tie-dying tees and sculpting clay doo dads for yet another summer in Arts & Crafts. I wanted to try something exciting, something different (and not as scary as say, rockclimbing or whitewater rafting). One of the more peculiar options was a class called “Printmaking”, in which girls would learn to “handcraft stationery and other printed items” using an old-fashioned Platen printing press.

In June, I found myself amidst a small circle of campers surrounding a medieval looking iron contraption in the dark basement of a camp lodge. As the counselor explained how the press worked, I began to seriously doubt my decision to spend my afternoons in this manner. However, I soon learned to enjoy the methodical process of setting letters and shapes into the type mold and locking them into the press to be flattened against sheets of paper. I also liked the teamwork required to operate the press: one girl in charge of loading the type mold into the press, while another turned the wheel that drove the plates together.

These two steps were intended to be done independently of one another, but I had the unfortunate occasion to learn firsthand what happens when done in tandem. You see, one afternoon, a younger camper was partnered with me to turn the wheel. She was somehow distracted, and began to turn the wheel before I had fully extracted myself from loading in a mold. In slow motion, I watched the edges of the plates biting down toward my suddenly vulnerable looking hands. And narrowly missing escape, I felt the most excruciating pain my 13-year-old self had ever known as the iron clamped down on my right index finger.

The agony was so intense that I proceeded to pass out in the dank basement, only to awake in the arms of the counselor selflessly carrying me up the hill to the infirmary. The camp nurse cheerfully splinted my throbbing finger and sent me on my way with a warning to keep it elevated as much as possible. This required a lot of walking around appearing as if I was aimlessly pointing into the distance. By supper that night in the dining hall, my freak accident and bizarre new pointer stance had become the center of camp attention. And to add further insult, my bunkmates rolled mercilessly on the cabin floor in laughter as my counselor tied my splint with string to the bed coils above my lower bunk so that I could of course keep my injured digit aloft. It wasn’t until August, while boating on my hometown lake, that the mangled nail fell off. Conveniently, in front of my entire youth group. I’ve stuck to humdrum Arts & Crafts ever since.

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I went to summer camp several years in a row with my church. At the time, I wasn’t all that keen on the idea. Especially, the days and hours leading up to the time which I actually had to leave my parents and go with a bunch of boys and girls that I didn’t really like all that much. Amazingly, those same kids provided some of my fondest memories and became best friends.

Those skits were the worst! At least so I thought before I actually took part in one. I was horrified at the prospect. My parents never warned me about this! This shy Mama’s boy was quite surprised to find out how much fun it actually was to get up on stage and show what summer camp was all about. I made some really good friends while we rehearsed for those skits.

Over coming fears, getting in trouble, getting away with things that kids get away with at camp, crushes on girls, all helped form the over all experience and fuse those memories into my psyche so that I would never forget. One of the most memorable was seeing my pastor, quiet and reserved, turn into a young child right before my eyes as he smeared whipped cream in my face during a giant food fight! From that point on, his sermons always seemed a little more real to me.

Every day was an adventure waiting to happen. I felt like some hobbit on an errand with Gandalf as we went on hikes through the woods, took canoes into the lake, swam and played day and night. The nightly campfire stories still resonate deep inside. I can’t wait to turn into a kid again when I can tell them to my kids when they’re older. Each and every child should get a chance to have summer camp memories to carry with them the rest of their lives.

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There are reasons I cried so hard when my parents came to pick me up, after what seemed like an agonizing eternity, from the Gitmo, I mean, Girl Scout Summer Camp. I went into this whole camping thing expecting to have the kind of fun that Hayley Mills sang about (”Let’s get together, yea yea yea!”) in the original classic Disney movie “The Parent Trap”, but nooooooo, it was more like “Friday the 13th”. Shudder. I still have nightmares about the whole ordeal.

I had never been away from home by myself, but hey, I wasn’t going to be lonely because there were other little hyper ten-year-olds, who, just like me, got suckered into signing onto this “I’m a Girl Scout, Get Me Out of Here!” reality gig. And that crying I heard at night wasn’t gonna remind me that I was homesick either.

Things got ugly pretty fast. The Camp Counselors, made it clear that there assignments were to torture and frighten us. They made us walk nature paths to pick up ticks and be bitten by millions of mosquitos. We went “snipe”-hunting, clicking sticks together along the way, hoping to find the elusive creatures, all the while listening to warnings of “watch for snakes.” Their campaign was working. I still watch for snakes. Shudder.

The torture was amped up. We were forced to do awful cleaning duties. The showers. We scrubbed the finish off of those fungal chambers with PineSol. I still hate that smell. If it was your day to clean the “Latrines”, you wondered if you could get out of that horrible job by pretending to be sick. I still hate that smell, too.

Those counselors really socked it to us when it came to our mealtimes. The “three Girl Scout bites or 5 Brownie bites” rule was to me the ultimate plan of evilness. The goal was to make sure we got our fiber, so prunes were served at breakfast. Can you imagine the sound of a room full of girls sitting at banquet tables, gagging their hearts out? Shudder.

Somewhere between all the scratching, hacking and scrubbing there were some moments where I treasure what I learned besides the important ones of survival essential to being a Girl Scout. I learned that I was capable of singing (I was picked to sing solo at Talent Night, although off key), to roast marshmallows and to discover that Pepsodent toothpaste tasted pretty good as a little snack.

Still, there’s no place like home.

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I have often been a chaperone at children and youth camps through church. My favorite things about camp are the kids and my least favorite…the kids! For example, when I was chaperoning a week of camp with my fifth grade sunday school class in South Georgia, I noticed one of my girls was not showering. I took her aside and asked if there was a problem. She said she didn’t need to shower since they went swimming at the pool during the day. One of the other girls overhead her and said to the girl “but the little kids pee in the pool.” Not what I would have said, but it did the trick—she took a shower IMMEDIATELY after pool time every day! My worse camp experiences have to do with teenage girls talking–talking—talking. All day, all night, when your tired old bones are already pained from sleeping on those thin cabin mattresses. You can’t wear out the mouths of teen age girls. Never volunteer to sleep in the same cabin. Sleep in your car if you have to, I say!

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Over my 61 years I have participated in many summer camps with the Boy Scouts of America, first as a camper, then a camp staff member, a camper at Philmont in New Mexico, and later as a Scouter. I have many fond memories of camps over the Southeast and especially here in Georgia.

However, the most memorable camp experience was my very first week of camp as an 11 year old Boy Scout. This occurred at the “Old Camp Bert Adams”. For those that are thinking about Bert Adams Boy Scout Reservation in Covington, that is not the place. The “Old Camp Bert Adams” was located where Cumberland Mall is now located. The office park adjacent and to the West of the mall was the center of camp activities. The lake that is in the middle of the apartments there was where I qualified for the Canoeing Merit Badge that first summer. Of course, in 1959, that area was a wild, wooded area apart from the city of Atlanta. No malls, no interstate highways, no 4-lane highways, and not much in the way of businesses existed.

The trip to camp started Sunday afternoon with a bus ride with my other BSA Troop 164 members all the way from Decatur to Vinings, as going through Vinings was the only access to the camp. Vinnings was an old rundown train station, and a couple of old houses on a very narow, twisted road. The bus trip seemed like an eternity. It was hot. It was crowded. It was loud. Not a very good start for the week I thought.

Once the bus unloaded at camp we were shown to our campsite which was made up of a number of adirondacks (three sided wooden structures with a wooden floor and a large overhanging roof). These adirondacks had three bunk beds so they accommodated six campers each. I quickly learned my first lesson of summer camp, “Every Man for Himself”, as all the experienced campers dashed into adirondacks and claimed their bunk. I was left behind with some other Tenderfoot Scouts to try to find the open spaces. As luck would have it, I found a bottom bunk open. I would later learn why no one else wanted that bottom bunk. The top bunk was occupied by a Second Class Scout called “Pinky” by the rest of the troop.

It seems Pinky had an aversion to things natural. Anything that moved was of interest to Pinky. While we spread out our sleeping bags and organized our packs and boxes in the adirondack, Pinky searched about the campsite under rocks and logs and found about six scorpions, three spiders, a lizard and a small garter snake. He brought them all back to the adirondak and placed them in a cardboard box located on his bunk.

That afternoon we had our physical exams and completed our swimming tests. Two laps of the pool, two minutes free floating, and we were judged as “swimmers”. Anything less were “beginners”. We were given our “buddy tags” which were hung on a hook with our buddy each time we went into the water. Finally, exhausted after all that had occurred that afternoon, we were lead to the dining hall where we would have all our meals for the upcoming week. Actually the food was pretty good. The most interesting part was the “bug juice” which was the cool aid that was mixed up in large quantities and seemed to end up covering most of the tables and campers before each meal was completed. In the dining hall we sang songs and performed chants that extolled the greatness of our troop to the others.

After dinner the first campfire of the week was awsome. An indian fired a flaming arrow into the stack of wood that immediately burst into flame and lighted up the entire area for the rest of the evening. Songs and skits followed with the campfire ending with a story. We then made our way back to camp through the dark woods. The first night did not offer much sleep as I wondered what would be in store on Monday.

Now Old Bert Adams was very hilly terrain. There were almost no flat spots on the property. There was one area that had been leveled to create a small ball field. There was also an adjacent Quonset hut used for activities during rainy weather. The parade ground in front of the old dining hall was also flat but very small. The flagpole was located in the center of the parade ground and all the troops assembled around the flag pole several times a day. In the mornings each troop was accounted for and the flag was raised as the bugler sounded the appropriate bugle call. Then the campers filed in to their assigned tables for breakfast. After each meal one camper from each table had KP duty and had to clean the table and sweep the floor.

In the evenings the troops gathered at the flag pole and stood at attention as the bugler sounded “To The Colors” as the flag was lowered. After dinner there was usually some free time to work on merit badge requirements, write letters or just rest.

During daytime, however, the hours were packed with activities with merit badge classes in Swimming, Lifesaving, Canoeing, Rowing, Hiking, Camping, Nature, Forestry, Cooking, Marksmanship and many others. Being a young scout I had not earned any merit badges yet. I was able to work on Swimming and Canoeing, and to go to the rifle range to try to qualify as Marksman and Pro-Marksman.

Pinky, on the other hand, took the Nature Merit Badge and spent the remainder of his time looking for snakes. The area proved to be abundantly blessed with snakes. As of Friday he had gathered at least 20 snakes which he kept in the cardboard box on his bunk.

Friday afternoon my shooting at the rifle range qualified me as Pro-Marksman. With my certificate in hand I excitedly ran up and down the hills through the woods toward our campsite to tell everyone what I had done. Suddenly I found myself hurtling through the air after tripping over something, and a large rock found my knee as I landed, creating a two inch gash. After making it back to the campsite my scoutmaster took me to the first aid center where I learned I was not the only patient. Another camper had recently swallowed a yellow jacket with a swig from a Coke bottle and it had stung him in the throat. The three of us loaded into the first aid director’s car and headed for Kennestone hospital in Marietta.

Now Kennestone was quite a bit smaller than it is now, and it seemed much farther away. Also along the way to Kennestone it seems like we only saw just a few other automobiles. It was nothing like the highways full of cars and endless shops and stores along that route today. At Kennestone I received my obligatory stitches after a long wait while they treated my suffering fellow camper. It was so late we had missed supper at the dining hall, so we stopped for a hamburger, then continued back to camp.

When I arrived at my campsite I found the troop had already left for the hike up Mount Atkinson and the weekly Friday campfire. I was very disappointed to miss this last campfire. There would be many more in my future. When my fellow campers returned to the campsite it was time for bed. We were all worn out from a very active week. Tomorrow we would be heading home.

That’s when I saw it. Pinky’s box of snakes on the top bunk was open. The flaps were obviously raised. Pinky checked the box and all the snakes were gone. He bagan a frantic search for his captives, but they were not found. OK, it was time to go to bed. My next thought was “I wonder if any of them found their way into my sleeping bag on the bottom bunk”. I certainly was not going to let the others know I might have even the first thought of being scared. It took every manley thought I could muster to slowly stick that first foot all the way to the bottom of the sleeping bag and feel around to make sure none of Pinky’s friends were there.

Even though the bag was clear, I could only lay awake and think about it all night. The next morning I was exhausted. We loaded up the bus and made it back home that afternoon, but the box of snakes was something I would never forget.

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Every summer growing up, I attended Camp Cherokee at Cherokee Retreat Center near Cartersville, GA, which is operated by a group of Presbyterian churches – all in North GA. One of my fondest memories and best camp stories was years ago when I was a counselor. That year, our interim camp director was somewhat less than involved in the day to day activities, and liked to “manage” from afar. This was okay with us counselors for the most part, but we ended up planning and directing all of the activities for the children, electing a “head counselor in charge”, and generally leading the best way we knew how. Because almost all had been counselors before, it worked just like clockwork! That summer, we built the best team environment I’ve ever worked in to this day.

Having said that, that summer it rained every day because there was a hurricane remnant sitting over the state for weeks on end. Being a camp, most of our activities were outdoors, so this seriously crimped our style. Enter the creative genius of us counselors! What’s a fun activity you can do outside in the rain and not worry about getting wet? Slip n slide! Only, we didn’t have our own, so we made it out of a big blue tarp. Off we went to the field, where we and several other counselors proceeded to make a “mud pit” at the bottom of a small hill, placed the tarp so that you would have about 15 feet of sliding area, and grabbed all the dish soap we could find from the kitchens. Needless to say, the kids had a ball, and we spent the better portion of that afternoon getting completely muddy and soapy. 40 kids covered in frothy mud with their counselors right beside them and covered in equal amounts of mud is a sight to see. To wrap things up, we all walked down to the pool where we happily jumped in to clean off the mud, and ended up turning the lovely blue pool green. The caretaker was none too happy about the condition of the pool, and it took about a week for it to stop looking like the lake, but I will never, ever forget that experience! To all my co-counselors that summer, if you’re reading this….”MUD!!”

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That must have been pain full.What kind of “camp friends” laugh at you.It could have happend to anyody.

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LAME LAME LAME!!!!!!!!

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We did our quick trip to northest Georgia the end of last week since my wife is a teacher and had top start back to work Monday. It was great. Georgia students are in school in August. However, they get out by the end of May, which leaves all of June–when the weather is usually much better than August–free for vacations. Most of the schools up north don’t get out until mid to late June. We have taken advantage of that the last couple of years by going to places like Maine and the New Jersey shore in early June when their rates were cheap (because their students were in school, the places were much less crowded, and the weather was much cooler. Let’s keep our current school schedules.

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Hey John –

I didn’t mean to imply we should change school schedules — just noting that prices down here are cheaper in in August when we’re all back in school. Where did you go in Maine? We are considering making a trip up there too. How was the water temperature in June? Was it too cold to wade out into the ocean?

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Oh, they were laughing with me. It was all in good fun. I had to laugh at myself to get through that pain! The sad thing is, I have many other camp klutz stories and took several trips to the camp infirmary over the years . . .

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To my surprise, my brother-in-law offered to take our daughter on vacation with his family in a few weeks (to keep his daughter company of course). They’re going to Destin for five days, which gives us five days to do ANYTHING! I told my wife I’ll plan it and tell her how to pack. Thinking Vegas, San Diego or Martha’s Vineyard. All three have been on “the list” for years, and I’d like to scratch one off. What to do???

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School just started today here in Tennessee. For those of us IN the B&B business, I can tell you when to get the best late-season bang for your buck–Come to the NE Tenn./NW North Carolina/SW VA Mountains. Plan your trip between now and October (that high season to see the leaves. More color equals more room cost and more traffic).
I personally think September is the most underrated month. Prices are moderate, crowds are nonexistent and the air is fresh, and dry. A few trees will begin to turn; the wildflowers are still abundant. Here in Mountain City, TN, the trees won’t be quite in fall color (but I think Atlanta’s fall leaves can be just as nice….). What you will find is lots of rural mountains, openfields, forests, a great lake still warm enough to enjoy (Watauga Lake), hiking galore and very, very fresh air. My own property comes in at $99-$169 per night. We serve a full breakfast and provide free in-room snacks making for savings. We also rent a cottage (for kids and dogs), as do many others. Mind you, THIS IS NOT GATLINBURG. We don’t have a whole lot of shopping “in the mountains.” You can go to Boone if you need some of that! Restaurants are nice (and moderate priced compared to “city” prices.) I’m exactly 300 miles from Five Points. If you haven’t seen this area, maybe it’s time to check it out.

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[...] Check out the winning Vegas Nights story [...]

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[...] What is the grand prize! [...]

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love it!

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Vote for Vegas baby!!

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Vote for Arts & Crafts Accident!

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“Arts and Crafts Accident” is the best…well-written, funny, entertaining!

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Vote for the camp mishap: well-written and something even the “ancients” in our lives can relate to!!!
Best of luck!!

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could identify with–had a similar experience when I was in camp one summer many yearsw ago.

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Good story. I would like to vote for the art and crafts accident story. How and where do I vote?
Thanks.
KLB

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loved the Arts and Crafts Accident!!

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I vote for Pull My Finger!!!!

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you said “doo-dads,” that’s great!

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Love the story!!

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GO SARAH!

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We go to New Orleans to EAT!!! From Commander’s Palace in the Garden District to local neighborhood dives and everything in between. The classics – Arnaud’s Antoin’s, Court of Two Sisters, Galitoire’s – in the French Quarter. Po Boys just about everywhere, incredible oysters at Acme Oyster House and fried or boiled seafood at Deanie’s. The best is a backyard crawfish boil at a friend’s home.

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Vegas twins should have asked the man if they could bring their children along!

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